SISTER MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA
Her name
Is forever linked
To the annual feast
Of the DIVINE MERCY
Celebrated the 2nd Sunday of Easter
And at the Divine Mercy prayer
Celebrated each day at 3pm
Born August 25th, 1905
In now west central Poland
Helena was the third of ten children
She worked
As a housekeeper
In three cities
Before joining
The congregation of The Sisters
Of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925
While there
She worked as a cook, a gardener, and porter
She had
A DEEP interior life
In addition
To serving the need of the sisters
And the local people
Many Catholics at that time
Had a deep fear of God
And thought
That they could not be forgiven
Jesus-appearing to Sister Maria Faustina
Once told her
“I do not
Want to punish aching mankind
But I desire to heal it
Pressing it to my merciful heart”
Sister Maria
Wrote in her diary
“Neither graces-nor revelations-nor raptures
-Nor gifts granted to a soul
Make it perfect
But rather
The intimate union of the soul
With God
These gifts
Are mercy ornaments
Of the soul
But constitute
Neither its essence nor its perfection
My sanctity and perfection
Consist of the close union
Of my will
With the will of God”
Jesus loved us so much
Had so much mercy on us
That he preferred to die for us
Than to see us spend eternity in suffering
“Because judgment without mercy
Will be shown to anyone
Who has not been merciful
Mercy triumphs over judgment!”
James 2:13
Sister Maria Faustina
Died of tuberculosis in 1938
Pope John Paul II
Beatified her in 1993
And canonized her 7 years later
We thank Sister Faustina
For her revelations of our Lord’s mercy
For all of us
And we thank our Lord
For BEING a merciful God
As Psalm 136 says
“God’s LOVE (God’s mercy ) ENDURES FOREVER”
INDEED
Robert P. Wallman
11-11-12
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