The message of Divine Mercy entrusted to Saint Faustina
a message of love
The Divine Mercy message It comes three centuries after the revelation of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary of Alacoque in Paray le Monial. He came to complete and prolong the message of the Sacred Heart: the heart is the source and mercy is the river that flows from it.
Jesus chose Saint Faustina, a humble Polish nun with no education, to transmit the message of Divine Mercy to the world. Jesus told him “I want the whole world to know my Mercy” (Diary 687). These words were reflected in the famous Diary of Sister Faustina, in which the message of Divine Mercy is revealed.
This message is an invitation to know Jesus personally, to speak to him, in a heart-to-heart relationship. As Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and Saint Faustina teach us, we can follow a path of simplicity in our relationship with Jesus.
On the other hand, we can say that the essence of the cult of Divine Mercy is the confidence in God and the practice of mercy towards others. Trust is the condition to receive the jesus promises.
Saint Faustina never stopped insisting on the immensity of God’s mercy, which has no limits. Jesus made it clear that sinners, the lost, and the unfortunate have priority for his mercy. She trusts: “Let no soul be afraid to approach Me, even if their sins are like scarlet“. (JOURNAL 699).
A message to the world
Jesus told Saint Faustina that mercy is the last wall before justice spreads throughout this world.
Today we are witnessing a flood of evil and suffering in the world. Given this loss, Divine Mercy It is given to us as a last resort. It is urgent to implore God’s mercy for our world, repair the sins committed and proclaim the message of mercy all over the world. “Humanity will not achieve peace until it turns confidently to My mercy.” (Journal 300).
Father Nicolás Buttet, founder of the Eucharistic Fraternity, says in a teaching: “Today God comes to challenge humanity. We are at a crucial moment. Mercy is the revelation, the last plank of salvation that God gives humanity to return to Him. Without a doubt, God gave Saint Faustina the last and greatest message that exists among private revelations: the secret of his mercy. This message is for everyone. It is urgent to make the revolution of love and it is up to us to make it.”
-Translated from French by
A message that is consistent with biblical tradition
The message of the infinite mercy of God that was entrusted to Saint Faustina It is not a novelty in the history of the Church. In fact, the extensive biblical tradition frequently uses the term mercy. The word “mercy” is translated in the Bible with two terms, it means bowels Y faithful love. In the Old Testament God has, among other things, the entrails of a mother who are moved by the suffering of her people.
The revelation of mercy is also found in the New Testament. The gospel of the adulterous woman and the parable of the prodigal son are clear testimonies of this reality. In the course of history, thanks to the Holy Spirit, the Church began to receive an increasingly precise revelation of this treasure that is mercy.
Mercy is the culmination of the revelation of the heart of God. It is the last treasure of the mystery of God that is revealed to humanity.
John Paul II and the message of mercy
During his pontificate, Saint John Paul II strove to make known to the world the Saint Faustina’s message. He said: ““It is as if Christ wanted to reveal that the limit imposed on evil, whose cause and victim turns out to be man, is ultimately Divine Mercy.”
It was this Polish Pope whom the Lord chose to transmit to the whole world the message entrusted to a simple religious.
John Paul II he canonized Saint Faustina on April 30, 2000. His homily on that occasion was formidable. Here are some significant passages. “With this act I want to send this message to the new millennium today. He sent it to all men so that they learn to know better and better the true face of God and the true face of the brothers (…)And you, Faustina, gift of God in our time, gift of the land of Poland to the whole Church, grant us to perceive the depth of divine mercy, help us to experience it in our lives and to witness it to our brothers. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, move sinners to conversion, eliminate rivalries and hatred, and open men and nations to the practice of brotherhood.”
The Apostles of Divine Mercy
One of the first Apostles of Divine Mercy at the Santa Faustina school was certainly the Father Miguel Sopocko, confessor of Sister Faustina in Vilnia. This servant of God worked until the end of his life to spread the cult of the Divine Mercy. In fact, despite the resistance of the clergy and the difficulties in transmitting the cult requested by Jesus, he was not discouraged, but patiently explained the theological foundations of the cult and corrected the errors.
Father Sopockos the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus. This congregation responds to a request from Jesus, and it was thanks to Blessed Miguel Sopocko that the image of Merciful Jesus was made known and venerated by a large number of faithful.
Currently there are many communities and associations whose mission is to spread the Divine Mercy messageespecially promoting all the devotions that are inherent to it: the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the novena to Divine Mercy, the hour of Divine Mercy, the Mercy Sunday.
– The Missionaries of Mercy They are a community that was born in 2005, in Toulon (France). This community has twenty-two members and is present in four large cities in France.
– The Servants of Mercy they form a movement born in 2008 that lives from the spirituality of Santa Faustina.
– The Association for Divine Mercy was founded in November 2006 by Violetta Wawer and Gérard Déchelette. The objective of the association is to spread the message of the Heart of Jesus and the message of Divine Mercy through different means.
– The “Divine Mercy Alliance” is an apostolate of lay Catholics whose goal is to promote peace in France and in families through a return to religious practice.