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April 23rd
“The LORD is Good, His Mercy Endures Forever!”
(Psalm 118)
St. Maria-Faustina Kowalska, the visionary of Jesus as Divine Mercy, was the first saint to be canonized in the new millenium. Pope John Paul II, the one who canonized her and established, in obedience to Christ’s words to Faustina, the first Sunday after Easter as the Feast of Divine Mercy, passed into eternity last year on the Vigil of the Feast of Divine Mercy. This message of mercy, and the feast we celebrate today, John Paul considered his special mission. It was, he said, the very focus, center and meaning of his pontificate. He believed to be true the visions and words that Faustina said the Lord had given her, and he made it his mission to spread the message to every corner of our troubled world, haunted and confounded in so many ways by sin, error and brokenness.
The image that has evangelized this message of Mercy to the whole world is the picture of Jesus with two rays, red and white, emanating from His Heart. Jesus appeared to Faustina on February 22, 1931, and asked that a painting be made of this vision. At the bottom of the image was to be printed the words, “Jesus, I trust in You.”
“The image represents the risen Christ, whose hands and feet bear the marks of the crucifixion. From His pierced Heart, not visible in the image, the two rays issue forth. When asked about their meaning, Jesus told Faustina, ‘the pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red 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. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.’”
“The purpose of the image is to serve as a vessel for obtaining graces, and to be sign which is to remind the world of the need to trust in God and to show mercy toward our neighbor. The veneration of this image is based on confident prayer joined with deeds of mercy. Jesus asked Faustina to share His words to her with the world: ‘I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image, with the signature, “Jesus, I trust in You.” The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out upon the human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My Mercy.’”
So let us pray with St. Faustina, “Oh Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You!”
(extracts from the Diary of St. Faustina and booklet from the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Warsaw, Poland)
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