The world needs prayer

The Divine Mercy Centre in Lanark Ontario had a beautiful day of Adoration on Saturday.

Willy gave a beautiful talk on St. Faustina. Breakfast and lunch was served for those who wished to stay for meals. And the grounds there are beautiful, with an outdoor stations of the cross and walking paths, etc.

We said the Rosary with Scriptural meditations (for the Pope and the Universal Church, for all who proclaim the Gospel, for the Diocese and all its people, for priestly and religious vocations, for families and world peace.)

We said the Liturgy of the Hours followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

There was lots of time for personal adoration. Maureen and I stayed until about 3:30, but the day continued until 7:00 pm.

What a blessed and peaceful way to spend a day. And with the current state of the world; with the persecution of Christians and others in the Middle East; with Canada's sad state of abortion legality; with euthanasia in Quebec--it was a very timely way to spend a day in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Suffering for the sake of souls

I just finished reading the Letters of Saint Faustina. It is a lovely book and I bought it while in Poland. (After searching for it here on the Internet, it doesn't seem to be very available here in Canada).

St. Faustina, along with other saints, always seem to welcome suffering for God. I always struggle over this concept, as I wonder, how can anyone welcome suffering? It seems so contrary to human nature.

The other night as I lay in bed before going to sleep, I asked to God to help me to understand this. To give me wisdom, knowledge and understanding of how our sufferings can help others. How our "offering it up" can be of benefit to God or to others.

When I woke up in the middle of the night, I started to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet and in fact was actually able to say it without losing track of it like I usually do, as I lay in bed awake, and my mind inevitably wanders off to something else. I finally seemed to comprehend its message which was right before me the entire time.

"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...for the sake of his sorrowful Passion have Mercy on us and on the whole world."

When we suffer (and we all do at some time or another, some more than others), and we unite our suffering with Jesus's suffering on the cross, we can truly help other sinners.

I had always sort of understood this, but for some reason, I kept questioning it. 

St. Faustina's Diary is full of entries about suffering for Souls, and of her "praying for Souls".

In this passage in one of her letters, this one to Sister Ludwina, she tells us how we can "purchase immortal souls, the souls of poor sinners" when we unite our suffering to Jesus's suffering.

Faustina simply offered up her own suffering for the sins of sinners. Precisely what Jesus did on the cross, when he died for our sins. He saved souls. Faustina saved souls. Those who suffer, and unite their suffering with Jesus--can also save souls. It really is as simple as that. In fact, it's almost so simple that it's easy to miss. Of course, the idea is simple--the suffering is not.

Faustina prayed constantly for the "sake of sinners'' and offered up all her sufferings to God.

I know many people who are near and very dear to me, who suffer immensely. Perhaps this passage may help ease their pain a teeny tiny bit.

My Pilgrimage to Poland - St. Faustina

We were blessed on our pilgrimage to visit many of the places where St. Faustina was, during her short life on earth.

She was born in Glogowiec (her home fifth picture below along with pictures of St. Anne and the Sacred Heart of Jesus from her home) and baptized (Chapel of St. Kazimierz); where she entered the convent in Warsaw (Sisters of our Lady of Mercy); and where she lived and died (Lagienwik).

St. Faustina's remains are in the Chapel of St. Faustina at the Divine Mercy Centre (first picture shown below).

Sixth picture below is St. Faustina's room. Seventh is the on site cemetery where she was first buried. Her remains were later moved to the chapel.

One of my favourite passages from St. Faustina's Diary is the section called The Conversation of the Merciful God with a Despairing Soul. Especially the first part:

Jesus: O soul steeped in darkness, do not despair. All is not yet lost. Come and confide in your God, who is love and mercy. 

— But the soul, deaf even to this appeal, wraps itself in darkness. 

Jesus calls out again: My child, listen to the voice of your merciful Father. 

— In the soul arises this reply: "For me there is no mercy,” and it falls into greater darkness, a despair which is a foretaste of hell and makes it unable to draw near to God. 

Jesus calls to the soul a third time, but the soul remains deaf and blind, hardened and despairing. Then the mercy of God begins to exert itself, and, without any co-operation from the soul, God grants it final grace. If this too is spurned, God will leave the soul in this self-chosen disposition for eternity. This grace emerges from the merciful Heart of Jesus and gives the soul a special light by means of which the soul begins to understand God’s effort; but conversion depends on its own will. The soul knows that this, for her, is final grace and, should it show even a flicker of good will, the mercy of God will accomplish the rest.

St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII

Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII were canonized today on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Here is a Divine Mercy story from Fr. Dennis Hayes yesterday.

Here Fr. Michael Gaitley tells us about the connection between Pope John Paul and St. Faustina:
Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC: The Message of Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy Novena

The Divine Mercy Novena for Easter

Praying for the dying

Before our friend Jack died, I spent a lot of time praying for him. I would wake in the middle of the night, and I would pray. During the day whenever I thought of Jack, I prayed. I offered up Masses for him.

I was worried for his soul. Jack was raised a Catholic but was not a practicing Catholic in any way.

About 10 days before he died I asked my spiritual director, a priest, to visit Jack. They had a good talk. Shortly before he died Jack received the Sacrament of the sick.

I prayed at his bedside as he lay dying. I asked my sisters to pray for Jack as well. Sort of like a little prayer committee to get Jack to Heaven.

A funny thing happened to me during this time. I felt good about this praying I was doing. Way more praying than usual. It made me feel at peace, like I was doing something concrete for Jack--when there is so little one can do for another person who is dying of a terminal illness.

After Jack died, I wasn't praying as much. The urgency was gone. And I missed the feeling of peace that had become a part of me as a result of this prayer.

Recently I read The Trial of Faith of Saint Therese of Lisieux. St Therese felt it was her vocation to pray and suffer for souls who had lost their faith. I have also read St. Faustina's diary, another amazing story of a soul close to God. Faustina also prayed for souls.

Putting all this together I knew that I too could pray for souls like these two great saints. I could offer up prayers whenever I thought about it, so that souls who are dying could make it to Heaven. Especially those souls who have nobody to pray for them. Like Jack.

And then it hit me. Jack probably did have others praying for him too. And they would be those other souls, who also felt it was their calling to pray for souls that nobody prayed for. And now Jack can pray for all us here as well.

The Communion of Saints. Awesome.