A Beacon Of Light… “My Lord And My God!”
By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.
Throughout our lives God continually invites us to participate in His plan of salvation. We, however, are often distracted and lose our way. We begin with good intentions, but along the way we encounter detours that lead us off the path of salvation. Often these detours are the cause of temptation and sin. The evil one, or Satan, is the master of detours. All he wants is for us to be continually distracted so that we can never find our way back. The evil one tricks us into thinking there is no way out; that we cannot reform our terrible ways. This is false and there is a way out!
The first time I learned that there was a way out from this corruption of the evil one was while I was living in Houston. As I was doing my training for Clinical Pastoral Education, or CPE, I had the privilege of living as a seminarian at the rectory of St. Vincent de Paul Parish on Buffalo Speedway in Houston. I remember driving up to this massive church and seeing an enormous statue of Jesus. I had never seen a statue representing Jesus in this way.
The pastor, Fr. John Weyer, now deceased, welcomed me to his parish, and it was there I fell in love with this devotion. It was Fr. Weyer who introduced me to the great mystery of Christ’s Divine Mercy. Later as I completed my seminary studies, I returned to St. Vincent de Paul to celebrate a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving on my Ordination as a priest.
Therefore Sunday, April 11, was such an important day for the Church, and for me, celebrating the Feast of Divine Mercy. This feast was revealed by the Lord to the Polish nun, St. Maria Faustina Kowalski as an invitation to save souls. As recorded in Diary entry 965, Jesus said to Faustina: “Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them…the Feast of My mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice is near.”
Jesus sees the difficulties of man and the terror of sin that surrounds them, and He asks the Church to establish this Feast of His mercy to be a “lifeline” for the human soul.
Interestingly enough, not only did Jesus instruct the Church to celebrate this feast but in His visions to St. Faustina He also was explicit when it was to take place. The answer was given directly to St. Faustina on numerous occasions. For example, in Diary entry 299, Jesus said to her: “I desire that the First Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.” Today that Sunday is called in the Roman Missal “The Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday.” This day was important because the liturgical prayers and readings show us God’s mercy. For example, there is the Gospel reading about Jesus appearing in the upper room on Easter Sunday night, bestowing a blessing of peace on His apostles, and giving them authority to forgive sins in His name. The epistle is taken from the first chapter of Peter:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has given us a new birth as His sons, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead.” Even the opening prayer for the Mass begins with the words “God of mercy. . . .”
Having revealed His desire and designating a day dedicated to mercy, Jesus now instructs St. Faustina for whom this feast is most important. Jesus clearly states: “I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls” — that is, for all penitent souls without exception — but especially for “poor sinners.”
So the special guests at the Feast of Mercy — the guests who will receive the most attention — are those like the Fatima Prayer says: “those who are most in need of His mercy.” Even so, the Feast of His Mercy is open to all sinners who genuinely choose to seek out His mercy. Those who are unwilling or have closed their hearts to the Lord will not gain the graces He wants to bestow.
What are the graces and blessings Jesus wants to bestow on His children? Again, Jesus said to St. Faustina (Diary, 699):
“On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow.”
Included in the visions of the Lord to St. Faustina were three other instructions to assist us in living this mercy. First, He wanted priests to clearly proclaim the message of Divine Mercy on Mercy Sunday. Diary entry 570: “On that day, priests are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy.” Diary entry 1521: “Hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words when they speak about My unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart.”
Second, Jesus asked that the Image of the Divine Mercy be publicly venerated on this feast day. In Diary entry 341, for example, Jesus said to St. Faustina: “I want the image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it.” Finally, Jesus made it very clear to St. Faustina that in preparation for the Feast of Mercy we need to be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and prayers. If we do not practice works of mercy in our lives, then our celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday would be a kind of blasphemy, rather than an offering pleasing to the Lord (Micah 6:6-8):
“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old. . . ? He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. . . . Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy. . . . I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it” (Diary, 742).
Having discussed the Lord’s desire to offer us this great Feast of His Mercy, how can we celebrate it in our daily lives? The best way is to go to Confession! Seek out the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. Cleanse our souls of the dirt and grime that have piled up as the residue of our sins. Second, pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. This Chaplet was also revealed to St. Faustina as a tool to help us live our lives as people of mercy. May our souls be touched with the loving mercy of the Divine Savior!
Included below is how to pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. 1) Make the Sign of the Cross; 2) Pray the Opening Prayers beginning with St. Faustina’s Prayer for Sinners:
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equaled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God’s mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalski, 72).
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
(Repeat three times) O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You!
3) Pray the Our Father
4) Hail Mary
5) Pray The Apostles’ Creed
6) Pray 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.
7) On the 10 small beads of each decade pray the words: “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” (Repeat for the remaining decades: Saying the “Eternal Father” on the “Our Father” beads and then 10 “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion” on the following “Hail Mary” beads.
8) Conclude with Holy God (Repeat three times) “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
9) End by praying one of the following Closing Prayers:
“Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.” Or “O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy — to Your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out. Gracious God do not reject the prayer of this earth’s exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You: anticipate us with Your grace and keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death’s hour. Let the omnipotence of Your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation’s enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children, await Your [Son’s] final coming — that day known to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: through His merciful Heart, as through an open gate, we pass through to heaven” (Diary, 1570).
10) Make the sign of the cross, kissing the crucifix.
