St. Faustina (and some promises you may not know about)

This week the Catholic Church celebrated the feast day of one of my favorite saints:  Saint Maria Faustina.  Oh, how I wish I could express just how grateful I am that Jesus appeared to St. Faustina and asked her share the message of His infinite mercy with the world--and with me in particular!  It would be a very lengthy and heavy blog post if I tried to explain to you why I am so indebted to the Divine Mercy devotion, but I will briefly share that I believe the Divine Mercy Chaplet rescued my marriage and saved my soul from complete despair less than a year ago.  That is why I am so passionate about spreading this devotion every chance I get!

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is so powerful--just trust me, it is!  Actually, don't trust me, trust Jesus, because He Himself gave us this powerful prayer in 1931!   And did you know that Jesus promised very special graces to those who even look upon the image of His Divine Mercy with devotion!?  Here are some of those promises straight from Our Savior's mouth that he spoke to St. Faustina:

Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus I trust in You.  I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. 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. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. (Diary of St. Faustina #47 and #299)

I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory. (Diary of St. Faustina #48)

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." (Diary of St. Faustina #327)

By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls…(Diary of St. Faustina #742)

This painting is the "Original" painting done by the artist Eugene Kazimirowski in 1934.

It is said that when Faustina first saw the painting, she cried because it did not look nearly as beautiful as her beloved Savior looked when He appeared to her.

But who could ever capture the glory of God on canvas?

Aren't those promises AWESOME!?  ...Spared from hell, protected from God's just wrath, extra graces...  Truly, ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't get any better than that!  Our family has had a Divine Mercy picture in our house for years, but I had no idea of the special graces and promises associated with it until recently.  Once I heard about the graces, I went to our local Catholic book store and bought a whole bunch of them to give as gifts to some very special people in my life.  Perhaps God was pleased with my enthusiasm, because the other night at a local fundraising banquet, there was a Divine Mercy canvas painting on the silent auction table, and of course I had to bid on it...  And the Lord in His infinite mercy and kindness let me win it...for only $25!  I was so thrilled!!!  Some people left the banquet with handmade quilts or gift certificates, and I left with Jesus in my arms! You can't beat that! :)  I was especially thrilled with the canvas print because it was the "original" Divine Mercy image, which is the one that we did not have in our home yet (there are a few different versions of the painting out there...you can read more about them HERE if you wish).  Our new painting is now in a very special place in our bedroom, so that my husband and I can look at it often and be reminded of the gift of Divine Mercy in our marriage. God is so very, very good!

I wish I was able to tell everyone in the whole world about Jesus' infinite mercy and how He is just longing for souls to come to Him with trust and confidence in His mercy!   No sin is greater than His love and mercy!  And when we ask Him to wash away our sins in the ocean of His mercy, not only does He completely forgive our sins, but He also gives us the grace to completely forgive others!  Yes, even those who have sinned against us and completely broken our hearts...we can forgive them because Jesus has forgiven us when we have sinned and broken His heart.  God's mercy on us begets our mercy on others.  What a priceless gift.  What a saving grace.  I am eternally grateful.  Please help me to spread Faustina's message of Jesus' infinite love and mercy with our world so desperately in need of that message!  Perhaps you would consider buying some Divine Mercy holy cards or pictures and giving them away as gifts...  Or buy one for your own home if you don't have one yet...remember the special promises given to those who have a Divine Mercy image in their homes?  But above all, pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as often as you can---your soul and the souls of countless others will benefit beyond belief!  (And make sure you add the optional beginning and ending prayers...I think they are the best part of the chaplet!).  :)

Saint Faustina, pray for us!

JESUS, WE TRUST IN YOU!!!

For those who aren't familiar with the Chaplet, here's how you pray it:


Optional Opening Prayer:
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.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You! (x3)

Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostle's Creed

On each “Our Father” bead of the rosary, 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.

On each of the 10 “Hail Mary” beads, pray:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Concluding prayer:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (x3)

Optional Closing Prayer:
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.