Flora Cantábrica

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María Faustina Kowalska

9. “I send you out to the whole world”

n the Cracovian convent Sister Faustina received the rest of the prophetic mission. In October 1937 Jesus gave Sister Faustina another form of worship of the Divine Mercy. He asked her to hold the moment of His death on the cross in veneration. At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world (Diary 1320). In His next apparition He gave the details for this type of worship. He asked Sister Faustina to do the Stations of the Cross at the hour of His death, but if duty prevented this, to come to the chapel for a short moment of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and if even that was out of the question, to devote a brief moment to prayer wherever she was. With trustful prayer at three o’clock in the afternoon, offered on the merit of His Passion, is connected a promise of all graces which would be granted to the petitioners and all for whom they prayed, naturally provided that the grace asked for was in agreement with the will of God, i.e. that it is good for that person from the perspective of eternity. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world – mercy triumphed over justice (Diary 1572), He assured Sister Faustina.

Sister Faustina continued to keep her diary in Kraków, recording not only Jesus’ words and her extraordinary mystical experiences, but also deeply moving contemplation on the mystery of Divine Mercy. The over eightmonth period of illness and two spells in Prądnik Hospital was a good time for writing, and a major part of her spiritual writings was done in Kraków. This was also when she underlined the words Jesus had said, as instructed by her Vilnian spiritual adviser.

Jesus’ request that she proclaim His Mercy to the world occurs time and again throughout the diary. It was an exhortation Sister Faustina heard many times: Write down these words, … tell the world about My mercy and My love. The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out on human souls. Oh, what pain they cause me when they do not want to accept them! My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace. Tell all people, My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself (Diary 1074).

This task was of special importance, since Jesus attached such great promises to it. He said, Souls who spread the honour of My mercy I shield through their entire life as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the merciful Saviour (Diary 1075). He promised special graces to priests who preached the truth of God’s merciful love for mankind. He would bless their words and endow them with such great power that even the most hardened of sinners would repent.

Sister Faustina fulfilled this mission not only by the witness of her own life and the writing of her diary, in which she revealed God’s extraordinary merciful love for each human being, but also through her everyday relations with her neighbours. One day, Sister Eufemia Traczyńska recalled, when we were peeling apples at work in the bakery Sister Faustina came in. We were sitting on a bench and she came up from behind, put her arms around our shoulders and put her head between our heads. Sister Amelia, who had a very sensitive conscience, asked her, «Sister, how come, when you try so hard but over the week you still commit such a lot of sins. What can you do about it?», «Well», said Sister Faustina, «if you have a yard then what with walking across it all week it’ll get dirty, but come Saturday you sweep it and clean it up and it’s spotless. So when we go to confession our souls are spotless and we have nothing to worry about. Jesus will take care of it». In her everyday contacts Sister Faustina was able to interpret life’s troubles in a spirit of living faith and see God’s goodness in everything. She would often tell the sisters and charges about God’s love of mankind and about the tremendous value of doing good to one’s neighbour. One day passing by the chapel she said to Sister Damiana Ziółek, I heard that Jesus said that at the Last Judgement He would judge people only on their mercy, for God is Mercy, so by doing or failing to do merciful deeds you are casting a verdict on yourself.

As Jesus told her, His request that God’s merciful love for mankind be preached is the last recourse for many souls, which are being lost notwithstanding His bitter Passion. It is also the means to establish peace in human hearts and between nations: Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy (Diary 300). And it is to prepare the world for His second coming. That God is infinitely merciful, no-one can deny. He desires everyone to know this before He comes again as Judge. He wants souls to come to know Him first as King of Mercy (Diary 378), Sister Faustina wrote in her diary

Our Lady faithfully accompanied Sister Faustina and spoke to her on the prophetic mission. In the morning, during meditation, Sister Faustina recorded, I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, «I gave the Saviour to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Saviour, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Deter- mined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be faithful to the end. I am in empathy with you» (Diary 635).

The mystery of Divine Mercy took up the central position in Sister Faustina’s life and apostolic work. In accordance with the words of Jesus and His Mother, not only was she to live by it herself, reflecting it in her heart and works, but she was also to let the whole world learn of it. It was yet another task which seemed to transcend her capabilities. After all, she lived in a convent and was only a simple nun performing prosaic duties; she had neither extensive relations with other people nor any opportunities to disseminate this message in the world at large. But it was to her that Jesus addressed these amazing words: In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world (Diary 1588). She firmly believed all He said would happen, though sometimes she had no idea as to how it would come about. However, she knew that the convent chapel at Łagiewniki in Kraków would become the shri- ne for the worship of the Divine Mercy. She told Sister Bożenna Pniewska, who regretted that the Łagiewniki chapel was available only for the sisters and their charges, There will soon come a time when the convent gate will be wide open and people will come here to pray to the Divine Mercy