Flora Cantábrica

Saint Sister Faustina.Contemplation of Mercy in everyday life.7.8-22

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Saint Sister Faustina

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Contemplation of Mercy in everyday life

The contemplation of Mercy in everyday life is the characteristic feature of the Santa Sor Faustina school of spirituality. Acquired contemplation – according to Tanquerey – is the affective prayer of simplicity, an act of simply looking at God together with a feeling of admiration and love. The souls that reach the state of contemplation do not need long meditations or mental analyses, they know God rather naturally, without deducing, in a certain way they are face to face with the Lord and love God with intuitive love, as a child loves his son. good mother. It is difficult for these souls to understand how it is possible not to love God, to live without Him.

Saint Sister Faustina teaches us to contemplate God in everyday life, that is, to discover him in the soul and live with him throughout life. I do not seek happiness outside of my interior where God dwells – he confessed in the Diary – I enjoy God within me, here I live continuously with Him, here my most intimate relationship with Him exists, here I live with Him safely, here the look does not reach human. The Blessed Virgin encourages me to relate to Him in this way (Diary 454; cf. Diary 1793).

There is a simple practice that serves to contemplate God in everyday life. When Sister Faustina wanted to change her, Jesus forbade her, because it is a practice that gives great spiritual benefits. This practice consists of joining Jesus who dwells in the soul, for example through an aspiration (a brief prayerful invocation). The consistent use of this practice bears abundant fruits for the spiritual life: it develops the personal bond of love with God and leads to an ever more perfect participation in the life and mission of Jesus. It allows living life, in all its dimensions, together with Him. With Him I go to work – Sister Faustina wrote – with Him I go to recreation, with Him I suffer, with Him I enjoy, I live in Him and He in me. I am never alone, since He is my permanent companion. I feel his presence at every moment (Diary 318). The contemplation of Mercy in everyday life, practiced in this way, does not require isolation from the world or being in the convent; It can be applied in any vocation. In the time of great fears, lack of security and love, through the life of Saint Sister Faustina, God has reminded the truth that dwells in the human soul (the truth of which Saint John wrote in his Gospel ) and has called each of us to remain with Him in the depths of our being.

The contemplative life is often associated with isolation, solitude and prayer. These elements favor contemplation, however contemplation does not depend on them. Sister Faustina’s life, although spent behind the walls of the convent, shows that contemplation is possible anywhere; not only in chapel and during prayer, but also at work and in all the circumstances of daily life, because its essence is not to isolate itself from the world, but to deal consciously with God. Before understanding this truth, Sister Faustina wanted to fulfill her desire for contemplative life in a cloistered convent. Three weeks after entering the Congregation of the Sisters of the Mother of God of Mercy, she wanted to transfer to a convent with a stricter rule (Diary 18). However, the Lord Jesus did not allow her to leave the Congregation neither in the postulate nor during the perpetual profession, when she, driven by the desire to fulfill the will of God, wanted to found a contemplative convent to proclaim and implore Divine mercy for the world. Jesus made her stay in the Congregation to which he had called her until death to show, among other things, that it is possible to reach the summits of the contemplative life in every vocation, in all circumstances, in the daily life of the gray human, fulfilling the most prosaic duties. However, certain conditions must first be fulfilled, that is, lead an ascetic life and take care of the spirit of prayer. Such path, traveled by thousands of saints, was also traveled by Sister Faustina, leaving us an example of contemplative life in everyday life

In his Diary there are many descriptions of the prayers that were transformed into contemplations. Jesus, my Love – he wrote – today he made me understand how much he loves me, even though there is such a great abyss between us: the Creator and the creature, but in a certain way it is as if there were equality, love levels this abyss. He humbles Himself towards me and makes me capable of dealing with Him. I have immersed myself in Him almost completely annihilating myself and yet under His loving gaze my soul acquires strength and strength and the awareness that He loves and is loved very especially; she knows that the Almighty defends her (Diary 815). When he meditated on the mystery of God’s mercy, he considered the benefits that God grants to men and then – as he confessed – he began that meditation and did not finish it, because his spirit was totally immersed in God (Diary 1523). I never cease to be amazed when I know and experience the limitless love of God, with which God loves me. Who is God and who am I? I can’t continue thinking. Only love understands the encounter and union between these two spirits, that is, God the Spirit and the soul of the creature. The more I know him, the more I immerse myself in him with all the power of my being (Diary 729).

The rational, meditative knowledge of the mystery of Divine mercy, was transformed into acts of contemplation, that is, into a simple vision, a look at God, sometimes a brief glance together with the feeling of admiration and love. Each act of contemplation left in her soul a deeper knowledge of God, an awareness of his mercy, and also a deeper knowledge of herself. In those moments I know the greatness of God and my own misery (Diary 289). However, such knowledge – Sister Faustina confessed – does not discourage me or distance me from the Lord, but rather awakens in my soul a greater love and unlimited trust and the repentance of my heart is linked to love (Diary 852). These acts of contemplation, although sometimes very brief, left in Sister Faustina’s soul a more perfect knowledge of God, of his attributes and, especially, of his mercy, as well as a greater sensitivity to the presence of God. ; They also set on fire the love for God and souls and the willingness to fulfill all the will of God.

In Sister Faustina’s life, contemplation was not limited to the time of prayer, but extended to her entire life. The knowledge of the mystery of Divine mercy allowed her to discover God in her soul, therefore she did not look far away, she did not need to be before the tabernacle to meet Him; she dealt with Him in the depths of her being, regardless of where she was. The interior of my soul – she wrote – is like a great and magnificent world in which God and I live. Outside of God no one else has access to him. (Diary 582, cf. Diary 193, 1385, 1021). In the pages of the Diary, many times, the theme of the presence of the living God in the soul appears. I feel that you dwell in me with the Father and the Holy Spirit or rather I feel that I live in you, oh unimaginable God (…). Oh my God, I have known you within my heart and I have loved you above anything that exists on earth or in heaven (Diary 478). She compared his soul to the tabernacle in which the living Host is kept (Diary 1302) and in the depths of his being it was united with the Lord.

The Lord Jesus himself taught Sister Faustina this way of relating to God in the depths of her soul: He explained to her that he was always present in her soul, even in the moments when she did not perceive him and that only serious sin expels him. of the soul (Diary 1181); she communicated to him that she would tell him many things in the depths of her heart, where no one could prevent her from acting (Diary 581); explained to her the merit of a single act of pure love towards Him (Diary 576) and encouraged her to unite with Him constantly through love (Diary 576), and to unite her prayers, fasting, mortifications, efforts and all sufferings to prayer, fasting, mortification, fatigue, and His suffering (Diary 531). Sister Faustina put into practice all the advice of Jesus and of the Mother of God, that is why her dealings with God within her soul became life itself for her. I feel she – she wrote – that God is in my heart. And the fact of feeling God in my soul does not prevent me at all from fulfilling my tasks; Even when I carry out the most important matters that require attention, I do not lose the presence of God in my soul and I remain closely united with Him (Diary 318).

Sister Faustina supported the contemplation of God living in her soul with a permanent practice of uniting with the Merciful Christ (Diary 743, 790, 861, 905, 1105, 1778 and others). For whole years she made a particular examination of conscience with the purpose of joining the Merciful Christ. This exercise – she pointed out – gives me a mysterious strength, the heart is always united to the One who desires, and the actions regulated by the mercy that springs from love (Diary 703). With Him, in Him and through Him I give glory to God (Diary 1177). When she wanted to change this practice, the Lord Jesus did not allow it, and entrusted her to continually unite with Him, present in his soul (Diary 1544). The duties that she had did not prevent her from joining Jesus, because she did not let herself be carried away by the frenzy of work or by other external things (Diary 226, 582). All free moments he spent with the Divine Host within the soul (Diary 504); from Him she gathered light and strength to fight against all the difficulties and setbacks (Diary 193) that she did not lack.

The awareness of the presence of Jesus in the soul and the contemplation of Jesus increased Sister Faustina’s sensitivity to the other signs of the Lord’s presence and to his desires. She saw him everywhere. Everything that surrounds me – she wrote – is filled with God and above all my soul adorned with the grace of God (Diary 887). She knew how to find God in other people, in different circumstances of daily life and even – as she wrote – in the most insignificant things (Diary 148). Everywhere she saw his goodness, even in circumstances that are normally difficult to accept. Her relationship with the Beloved in the depths of her soul made her sensitive to every sign of her will, even to the most silent spiritual inspirations that she undertook out of love, although she often had to pay for them with fatigue and suffering. The presence of God in his soul, the possibility of uniting with Jesus so simply, of living with Him, in Him and for Him every day and every moment, and the revelation of Jesus’ will, all of this greeted him as an inconceivable gift of divine mercy. She wrote more than once that she never ceased to be amazed contemplating this mystery of our faith (Diary 1523), because: everything begins with your mercy and everything ends with your mercy (Diary 1506).

fter experiencing the passive nights of feelings and spirit, Sister Faustina often also experienced states of infused contemplation. God took her soul in absolute possession and at such times she dealt with Him effortlessly, simply and lovingly. More often I deal with the Lord in a deeper way – she wrote in the Diary – The senses fall asleep, but, although inadvertently, each thing becomes more real and clearer to me than as if I saw it with my eyes. The intellect knows more in a moment than during long years of deep reflections and meditations, both regarding the essence of God, as well as regarding the revealed truths and also the knowledge of his own misery (Diary 88

Sister Faustina, without having any theological training, left extremely beautiful descriptions of infused contemplation, in which she accurately expressed, in simple language, the essence of this contemplation, its consequences, and how her soul experienced those states. Currently my relationship with the Lord – she noted in the diary – is fully spiritual; my soul is touched by God and is completely immersed in Him, until it forgets itself. Totally imbibed by God, she sinks into his beauty, she sinks all into Him. I don’t know how to describe it, because writing I use the senses and there, in that union, the senses don’t work; there is a fusion of God and the soul, there is such a great life in God to which the soul is admitted that it is impossible to express it in words. When the soul returns to normal life, then it sees that this life is a darkness, a mist, a sleepy confusion, sashes that wrap around a small child. In such moments the soul receives only from God, because she does nothing of herself, she does not make the slightest effort, God does everything in her (Diary 767

Acts of infused contemplation appeared in Sister Faustina’s life first sporadically and even before entering the convent (Diary 1404, 770). However, later they became more frequent, especially after the passive nights of the spirit that enable this relationship with God. Sometimes the acts of infused contemplation were prolonged and lasted for days. The whole day – she wrote – I lived immersed in God, without any interval. At night I went into a sort of faint, and in a strange sort of agony; my love wanted to be equal to the love of that Sovereign; she was drawn to him so violently that, without a special grace from God, it was impossible to bear such an immensity of grace in this life. But I clearly see that Jesus himself sustains and fortifies me and makes me capable of relating to Him (Diary 708, cf.Diary 1246

According to Sister Faustina’s notes, the grace of infused contemplation was obtained for her by the Mother of God who on many occasions instructed her how to lead her interior life. She tries to be meek and humble – she said – so that Jesus who lives continuously in your heart can rest. Adore him in your heart, do not leave your interior (…). I will obtain for you the grace of this type of interior life that, without abandoning your interior, fulfill all your duties with greater application on the outside (Diary 785). This note from Sister Faustina’s Diary confirms the opinion of those theologians who say that infused contemplation is a gift of God and that man cannot attain it with his own psychological effort, with ordinary cooperation with God’s grace. The grace of infused contemplation is granted by God to souls that are capable of accepting it, that is, to souls that have undergone the extremely painful purification of passive nights

However, according to most theologians, every Christian can reach the state of acquired contemplation. It is a process of discovering God in his own soul and experiencing the power of God. This process is within the possibilities of the human spirit cooperating with the grace of God. Sister Faustina teaches how to look for this inconceivable gift that God deposited in the human soul and this gift is Himself; she teaches how to become a contemplative person in action. She says that you have to decide to lead your inner life intensively and very solidly, because to enter the fascinating world of faith, it is necessary to purify the soul both from sin and from what the senses and the world of the creative intellect bring. The more purified the soul, the more capacity it has to discover God alive in his soul, to develop a personal relationship with Him, to contemplate Him, regardless of whether he lives in the convent or in the world. Such a soul will be able to say like Sister Faustina: My spirit is with God, my entrails are full of God, that’s why I don’t look for him outside of me. He, the Lord, penetrates my soul like a ray of light through pure crystal. To my natural mother, being enclosed in her womb, I was not so united to her as to my God; there was unconsciousness while here is the fullness of reality and the consciousness of union (Diary 883).