You expired Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fountain of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us (1319).

 

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You (84).

 

O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.

 

Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me (80).

 

O Holy Trinity, One and Indivisible God, may You be blessed for this great gift and testament of mercy (81).

 

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth, and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, Incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed Your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You, and my soul recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good; and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration (1692).

 

My Lord and Creator, Your goodness encourages me to converse with You. Your mercy abolishes the chasm which separates the Creator from the creature. To converse with You, O Lord, is the delight of my heart. In You I find everything that my heart could desire. Here Your light illumines my mind, enabling it to know You more and more deeply. Here streams of graces flow down upon my heart. Here my soul draws eternal life. O my Lord and Creator, You alone, beyond all these gifts, give Your own self to me and unite Yourself intimately with Your miserable creature (1692).

 

O Christ, I am most delighted when I see that You are loved, and that Your praise and glory resound, especially the praise of Your mercy. O Christ, to the last moment of my life, I will not stop glorifying Your goodness and mercy. With every drop of my blood, with every beat of my heart, I glorify Your mercy. I long to be entirely transformed into a hymn of Your glory. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn in praise of Your unfathomable mercy (1708).

 

The Love of God is the flower­ - Mercy the fruit.

 

Let the doubting soul read these considerations on Divine Mercy and become trusting.

 

Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, better than the heavens,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for sinners,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Host,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in the founding of Holy Church,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, accompanying us every moment of our life,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of hell,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible to Saints,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, crown of all of God’s handiwork,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope,

I Trust in You.

 

I fly to Your mercy, Compassionate God, who alone are good. Although my misery is great and my offenses are many, I trust in Your mercy, because You are the God of mercy; and, from time immemorial, it has never been heard of, nor do heaven or earth remember, that a soul trusting in Your mercy has been disappointed.

 

O God of compassion, You alone can justify me and You will never reject me when I, contrite, approach Your Merciful Heart, where no one has ever been refused, even if he were the greatest sinner (1730).

 

[For Your Son assured me:] Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy fail to embrace a trusting soul (1777).

 

Jesus, Friend of a lonely heart, You are my haven, You are my peace. You are my salvation, You are my serenity in moments of struggle and amidst an ocean of doubts. You are the bright ray that lights up the path of my life. You are everything to a lonely soul. You understand the soul even though it remains silent. You know our weaknesses and, like a good physician, You comfort and heal, sparing us sufferings ­ expert that You are (247).

 

O Jesus, eternal God, I thank You for Your countless graces and blessings. Let every beat of my heart be a new hymn of thanksgiving to You, O God. Let every drop of my blood circulate for You, Lord. My soul is one hymn in adoration of Your mercy. I love You, God, for Yourself alone (1794).

 

O Mary, my Mother and my Lady, I offer you my soul, my body, my life and my death, and all that will follow it. I place everything in your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart, soul and body. Defend me with your power against all enemies, and especially against those who hide their malice behind the mask of virtue (79). Fortify my soul that pain will not break it. Mother of grace, teach me to live by God’s power (315).

 

O Mary … a terrible sword has pierced your holy soul. Except for God, no one knows of your suffering. Your soul does not break; it is brave, because it is with Jesus. Sweet Mother, unite my soul to Jesus, because it is only then that I will be able to endure all trials and tribulations, and only in union with Jesus will my little sacrifices be pleasing to God. Sweetest Mother, continue to teach me about the interior life. May the sword of suffering never break me. O pure Virgin, pour courage into my heart and guard it (915).

 

This prayer gives us a true measure of our mercy, a mirror in which we observe ourselves as merciful Christs. We can make it our morning invocation and our evening examination of conscience.

 

O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.

 

I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.

 

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

 

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

 

You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy ­ if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer ­ if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.

 

O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things (163).

 

this prayer discovered here

We start with a quiz.

 

Is the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy …

(a) a place to pray?

(b) a place for contemplation?

(c) a place of natural beauty in the famed Berkshire Hills?

(d) a place to find healing?

(e) a place where one goes to decompress from life’s stress?

(f) all of the above

(g) none of the above.

 

I hope you realized (g) is one of those preposterous answers every multiple-choice quiz maker puts in, so the quiz taker can immediately rule out. The correct answer is (f). Answers (a) through (c) pretty much have been taken for granted, with (e) related to those first three responses. But what about (d)? It might not first occur to someone that a person might come to the Shrine expressly to heal. This isn’t Lourdes. There are no weeping statues, not even in hay-fever season. There’s no rejuvenating well of mystical spring water.

 

Healing, however, takes many forms, something Shrine Rector Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC, understands.

 

When Fr. Anthony assumed the Rector’s office this year, one of his plans for the National Shrine was to make it known as a place of spiritual and emotional healing. He decided on this from having first-hand knowledge of the infusive power of the spirituality to be found on Eden Hill. You hear it again and again from pilgrims. The words are different, but the message is the same: there’s a special power and presence on “The Hill.”

 

Is that why confessions here are different?

 

“In the confessional, you see the power of prayer,” Fr. Anthony says. “In the confessional, people can talk freely. They can unburden themselves. And most importantly, they receive absolution. I call the confessional here on Eden Hill ‘The Valley of Tears.’ Lots of tears get shed during confession. They are good tears. They are tears of healing, tears of contrition, tears of joy. That’s one thing we don’t mind at all, having to replace so many empty boxes of Kleenex!”

 

This experience, repeated over and over from his perspective on the “other side” of the screened window, led Fr. Anthony to realize that Eden Hill might carry this power of healing outside the confines of the confessional. The possibilities were dizzying. But as so often happens when one goes looking for an application of spiritual energy, God takes the lead. He led Fr. Anthony to a specific path. Fr. Anthony started walking.

 

The path was the shattering aftermath of abortion.

 

Healing for post-abortive women (and men as well as family members) remains a largely unaddressed issue facing not just the Church but society as a whole.

 

“I think this issue forms the Big Picture of where God is going next with Divine Mercy,” Fr. Anthony says. “The more I looked into the post-abortive question, the more I realized there’s a huge, unaddressed need.”

 

Father Anthony heard about Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries, an organization that conducts retreats for post-abortive woman and men throughout the country. He went to one, observed, and came back with a believer’s zeal.

 

A psychologist, Dr. Theresa Karminski Burke, and husband Kevin Burke, a licensed social worker, founded Rachel’s Vineyard. They realized through their practices that counseling alone did not result in a full healing for women grieving over an abortion. God was missing. The grieving process needed a spiritual element.

 

Rachel’s Vineyard retreat gathers participants over a given weekend not as “patients” but as the suffering body of Christ. Guided by a leader, a facilitator, and a chaplain, the retreat helps the suffering minister to each other in Jesus’ name. They share spiritual exercises focused on God’s forgiveness, compassion, and mercy. Psychological exercises help participants work through repressed grief and anger. Spiritual rituals assist them to grieve the loss of the child, ask for the child’s forgiveness and intercession from heaven, and accept God’s mercy. The retreat ends with a memorial service and a Mass of the Resurrection.

 

Father Anthony immediately realized that Rachel’s Vineyard and his vision of healing at the Shrine aligned perfectly. He seized on the mission of the retreat, and knew that its delivery of healing fit, again perfectly, with the message and devotion of Divine Mercy. After attending a couple more retreats as chaplain, he decided to bring Rachel’s Vineyard to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.

 

Eden Hill hosted its first Rachel’s Vineyard retreat in March. It was a great success, and he immediately began plans to bring the retreat back to The Hill again. That took place over the weekend of July 20-22, 2007. Father Anthony said the July retreat replicated the great work of the first. After the July retreat, he pointed to “lots of blessings, healings, and support. It’s hard to explain all the great things that were going on.”

 

The Diocese of Springfield was heavily involved in the July session. Retreat leader Sr. Claire LaPointe, SASV, from the diocese, provided overall direction. Sister Claire says, “The participants were significantly different from Friday to Saturday.” Retreat facilitator Jean Raczkowski, also from the diocese, kept conversations going and encouraged participants to share their stories. “They arrive on Friday feeling abandoned and lost,” Jean says. “By Saturday, you see the healing taking hold. On Sunday, they leave with Christ by their side.”

 

To reinforce the healings that were taking place over the weekend, Springfield Bishop Timothy McDonnell, in conjunction with the retreat on Eden Hill, said a private memorial Mass for all participants and for their babies.

 

“It’s a tremendous thing to have Bishop McDonnell involved,” Fr. Anthony says. “All the children were remembered for the weekend, both here on Eden Hill at the retreat, and at the bishop’s Memorial Mass. The Diocese of Springfield has consistently shown its pastoral concern about this little known aspect of the pro-life movement, and we thank Bishop McDonnell for his leadership and support.”

 

Eden Hill is much like Rachel’s Vineyard ­ a spirit as much as a place, a frame of mind as much as a destination. They are both places of renewal, safe abodes where lives are rebuilt and hearts are redeemed. In the case of post-abortive women and men, participants find restoration, renewal, and healing through the express, release, and reconciliation of toxic emotions. Combine the retreat with Divine Mercy, and people can explore in emotional and spiritual safety their deepest, most closely held feelings about their abortion experiences.

 

During the weekend of July 20-22, nine participants in the Rachel’s Vineyard retreat found a place, many of them for the first time in their post-abortive lives, to dismantle their poisonous secrets in an environment steeped in God’s Divine Mercy. They experienced the wondrous relief that attends the letting go of a destructive burden. They felt the soothing presence of forgiveness as Divine Mercy began to flow into their hearts.

 

It might all be expressed as a collective, spiritual, “Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h.” The breathing slows down and gets deeper. The tension drains out of the body, replaced by healing warmth. The eyes close in relaxation and peace. Participants feel as if they’re at a Spiritual Spa.

 

Help. Empathy. Action. Love. Intercession. Nurture. God. They spell H-E-A-L-I-N-G. They are the call letters of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, a place to go when there is nowhere else to go, a place to go when you can go anywhere else but would rather be there.

 

Some comments from the participants of the July retreat express it so well:

* I loved every minute of the retreat ­ the caring, the sharing, the embracing of each other, the living Scripture, the Eucharistic Adoration, Mass, Confession …

* What was most meaningful? The opportunity to be embraced by The Divine Mercy, Love and forgiveness of our Lord Jesus and God, our Father.

* The retreat was Godly ­ God-directed, God-fed.

 

Then there’s this one: “I have been through 14 years of therapy and anti-depressants. I’ve confessed my abortion a hundred times. Just when I thought I could take the pain no longer, I found Rachel’s Vineyard. This weekend literally saved my life.”

 

See a pattern here, do you? That’s right. It’s the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy, fulfilling a vision of its Rector as a place of healing, where mercy’s soothing balm turns pain into hope, bitterness into love, and reluctance charity.

 

The next Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat will be held soon at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Anyone interested in the retreat should call 413-452-0661. All calls are strictly confidential!

 

By: Dan Valenti

 

this article discovered here

 

From St. Faustina’s diary

 

January 3

 

Write this: before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort:

 

All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day.    (83)

 

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You!     (84)

 

On Friday, after Holy Communion, I was carried in spirit before the throne of God. There I saw the heavenly Powers which incessantly praise God. Beyond the throne I saw a brightness inaccessible to creatures, and there only the Incarnate Word enters as Mediator. When Jesus entered this light, I heard these words, Write down at once what you hear: I am the Lord in My essence and am immune to orders or needs. If I call creatures into being-that is the abyss of My mercy. And at that very moment I found myself, as before, in our chapel at my kneeler, just as Mass had ended. I already had these words written.     (85)

   

There are times and moments, Lord, like now,

Where the words rush by me, escaping somehow.

What is there for me to say,

When I see the darkness day by day.

On my knees I pray to Thee:

O my Lord, have mercy.

   

Word by word, and life by life,

The world gone mad with hate and strife,

Those who should be there to show us the way

Have secret sins that they must obey.

On my knees I pray to Thee:

O my Lord, have mercy.

   

The hardness of heart across the world

like a sword it slashes, like a spear, it’s hurled

To pit the one against another,

Over and over Cain slays his brother.

On my knees, I pray to Thee:

O my Lord, have mercy.

   

Lord, help us stand against this night,

And touch our hearts with Thy pure light.

Help us walk in mercy’s way,

Shine with Your love, day by day.

On my knees, I pray to Thee:

O my Lord, have mercy.

   

Teach our hearts, then how to be

Loving followers of Thee,

Knowing how to shed Your light,

In this land of sin and night.

On my knees I pray to Thee:

O my Lord, have mercy.

   

Remind us of Thy mercy-seat,

A cross where Heaven and Earth do meet,

You bled and died to open the door,

A flame of Love forevermore.

On my knees I pray to Thee:

Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy.

   

Sue Stone

 

“O Jesus, You alone know what I suffer, but I will keep silent and will not say anything about it to any creature, because I know that no one will comfort me. You are everything to me, O God, and Your holy will is my nourishment. I am living now on what I will live on in eternity.”

­ From the Diary of St. Faustina, 667

 

My meditation last week focused on how our Lord suffered alone after the apostles had fallen asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

Their inability to remain awake reminds me of the number of times in the Diary that St. Faustina, like Jesus, reached out for support from others who could not help her. For example:

 

Once again, a terrible darkness envelops my soul. It seems to me that I am falling prey to illusions. When I went to confession to obtain some light and peace, I did not find these at all. The confessor left me with even more doubts that I had before (Diary, 211).

 

Like Jesus, she asked for understanding another time:

 

When I went to confession again, I got the answer, “I do not understand you Sister. It would be better if you did not come to me for confession” (Diary, 212).

 

What can help us when we approach our spiritual directors, our confessors, our therapists, doctors, spouses, or our best friends and they don’t give us the satisfaction we seek? Are we simply to give up, to walk away in frustration?

 

Jesus Himself gave St. Faustina this answer:

 

“….I will not give you the grace to reveal yourself to someone else, and even if you did bare yourself, I will not give that priest the grace needed to understand you. At this time, it is my desire that you put up with yourself patiently” (Diary, 1163).

 

This confessor wasn’t supposed to come up with a comforting response ­ lest she focus on him and not on the Lord to resolve certain issues. Eventually Jesus explained to St. Faustina that He had another confessor to whom she could share her concerns.

 

From my own experiences, I have come to believe that in many instances others can’t respond, and perhaps shouldn’t, because our Lord wants us to come to Him for answers. This is not to imply that others cannot give us help when needed, or that they lack training in their professional roles. Quite the contrary! Many I have gone to for help have been of great assistance.

 

Nevertheless, there are those special moments when our Lord would rather have us lean on and learn from Him. It would be a gross violation on my part to interfere with what our Lord is trying to teach someone. It would be to their greater advantage to seek His will through their own prayer. This has proven true in my own experience and for any number of other individuals as well.

 

I often dwell on a question in regard to our Lord not having anyone to console Him at Gethsemane. What if our Lord did have some person relieve His great sorrow and anguish? Would the angel then not come and minister to Him? (see Luke 22:43). Would He have delayed surrendering His will totally to His Father? So, the question I have to ask myself is: Am I allowing friends or my activities, hobbies, concerns, even fear and distrust, to delay or diminish my complete and unconditional surrender to God? Am I demanding that others stay awake so that my needs may be quieted?

 

After He left the apostles the third time, Jesus began to feel a terrible fear and anguish so deep that it filled Him with great sadness. He said: “My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. It is a sorrow that is killing me.” The evangelists refer to His sorrow, distress and anguish (see Mark 13:33) meaning the dread of pain that one anticipates prior to suffering. These feelings stayed with Jesus like two heavy weights, pressed down on His heart until He was “in agony” (see Luke 22:44).

 

Mystics believe that one of the reasons Jesus Christ wanted to suffer pain in His body and soul was to show us that He was a real human being, with our very same nature; that He felt torture and insult the same as we do; that He was not aloof to our physical and mental torments. This can help comfort many who feel the force of their emotions dominating them.

 

These souls need not be discouraged or feel they have lost God’s grace. These feelings are not sins, but manifestations of the natural weakness of us humans. The Lord chose to take on himself this mental weakness, making Himself the same as us ­ except for sin ­ so that we could become the same as Him in fortitude and in obedience to the will of God. Greater fortitude results not from a greater effort, but from the suffering entailed in that greater effort.

 

What can we do when our sufferings demand answers and none are forthcoming? We can follow the example of Jesus: “And being in agony He prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:44). He didn’t give up, moan or point a finger of blame on anyone. He simply prayed more earnestly. He wasn’t going to allow anything to interfere with His ultimate desire to fulfill the will of His Father.

 

Through the Gethsemane experience, Jesus is conveying to us that He can relate to our trials. We see that only He can provide answers to our persistent questions and doubts. There are times when each of us feels alone with these thoughts and find ourselves in our own Garden of Gethsemane.

 

A friend heard me dwell on my past so many times and finally challenged me by saying: “Brother, it sounds like you’re still stuck in the Garden.” I realized how true this was. Nothing helped me get out of that dilemma other than reflecting on His Passion. Jesus told St. Faustina, “It is in My Passion that you must seek light and strength” (Diary, 654). Then I realized that our Lord permits the furrows in our lives, and only He in His love and wisdom is able to fill that feeling of emptiness.

 

When our Lord decides to fill that void, He seems, first of all, to give us a hunger to know Him better. This is often followed by a greater desire to receive Him daily in the Holy Eucharist. When this is impossible, we can make a spiritual communion and read His inspired word. The Eastern Catholic Church looks upon the Scriptures as a sacrament, because it is that external sign that brings grace.

 

Among the other ways that our Lord fills the gap for us is through giving us a longing for an even deeper prayer life. He invites us to be alone with Him. He very gently extends an invitation to remain in complete silence and absorb all the love He is aching to pour out. Our soul becomes irresistible to God when we can forget our self for a time and simply wait upon Him.

 

With St. Faustina we pray:

 

O Jesus, eternal Truth, strengthen my feeble forces; You can do all things, Lord. I know that without You all my efforts are in vain. O Jesus, do not hide from me, for I cannot live without You. Listen to the cry of my soul. Your mercy has not been exhausted, Lord, so have pity on my misery. Your mercy surpasses the understanding of all Angels and people put together; and so, although it seems to me that You do not hear me, I put my trust in the ocean of Your mercy, and I know that my hope will not be deceived (Diary, 69)

 

Brother Leonard Konopka, MIC, is on the staff of the Marian Seminary in Washington, D.C. He also provides spiritual direction, retreats, and seminars. Brother Leonard has a leaflet available that has a series of meditations on the five wounds of our Lord. The meditations are intended for use while praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. Click here to order Contemplate My Wounds. He also has a CD available with the meditations on the five wounds, interspersed with the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. Click here to order A Musical Interlude.

 

this article discovered here

I need a hug Lord please hold me tight,

it would give me added assurance everything’s all right.

Now I know I’m standing on faith and I understand;

You are in control and hold me in Your hand.

I know in my heart that I haven’t a spirit of fear

and that when I have a need You are always there.

My faith doesn’t depend on me getting this embrace;

the faith You’ve provided is strongly in place.

An embrace is something of which I’ve had far too few,

having no others wouldn’t matter if I had one from You.

I know that You love me I feel it deep in my heart,

I haven’t doubted once since our relationship had it’s start.

I know every single one of my needs has been met,

not even one time have You ever disappointed me yet.

But Father ever since the beginning when You created man,

an occasional embrace was part of Your plan.

Now the people in my life don’t believe in embracing You see,

so just this one time won’t You please hug me?

I promise I won’t be a bother I won’t pester You any more,

just this once may I have a hug from the One I adore?

I need a hug Lord just hold me tight,

I know it’ll be enough to give me a lifetime of delight!

Barbara Philbrook

 

O Father of mercies, from Whom cometh all that is good, I offer my humble petitions unto Thee through the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy dearly beloved Son, our Lord and Redeemer, in Whom Thou art always well pleased and Who loves Thee so much.

Vouchsafe to grant me the grace of a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity toward Thee and toward my neighbor.

 

Grant me also the grace to be truly penitent for all my sins together with a firm purpose of never offending Thee again; that so I may be enabled to live always according to Thy Divine good-pleasure, to do Thy most holy will in all things with a generous and willing heart, and to persevere in Thy love even to the end of my life. Amen.

 

this prayer discovered here

 

 

 

From St. Faustina’s diary

 

During a meditation on humility, an old doubt returned: that a soul as miserable as mine could not carry out the task which the Lord was demanding [of me]. Just as I was analyzing this doubt, the priest who was conducting the retreat interrupted his train of thought and spoke about the very thing I was having doubts about; namely, that God usually chooses the weakest and simplest souls as tools for His greatest works; that we can see that this is an undeniable truth when we look at the men He chose to be His apostles; or again, when we look at the history of the Church and see what great works were done by souls that were the least capable of accomplishing them; for it is just in this way that God’s works are revealed for what they are, the works of God. When my doubt had completely disappeared, the priest resumed his conference on humility.

 

Jesus was standing, as He usually did during each conference, on the altar and said nothing to me, but with His kindly gaze pierced my poor soul which no longer had any excuse.     (464)

 

Jesus, Eternal Light, enlighten my mind, strengthen my will, inflame my heart, and be with me as You have promised, for without You I am nothing. You know, Jesus, how weak I am. I do not need to tell You this, for You yourself know perfectly well how wretched I am. It is in You that all my strength lies.     (495)

 

 

“O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You” (3x)

 

Jesus said to St. Faustina: At 3 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. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion.

 

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

 

Merciful Jesus, it is now the moment of Your death: 3 PM. We stop for a moment and spiritually stand at the foot of Your Cross, next to Your Mother Mary, St. John, and other holy women. Immersing ourselves in Your Passion, we ponder with love and devotion Your pain and sorrow; Indescribable in its intensity. Mother Church places on Your lips the words of the Psalm: “Like water I am poured out, disjointed are all my bones. My heart has become like wax; it has melted within my breast.”

 

With holy awe and grateful wonder, we give You thanks for bearing our sins and infirmities, for enduring our sufferings and taking on our punishment, so that we may become whole and healed. Thank you for the many blessings You bestow upon us and the whole world.

 

Good and gentle Jesus, we adore and worship You, truly and really present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Let our prayers and those of Divine Mercy devotees all over the world rise up to You as a fragrant offering of praise to Your infinite Mercy.

 

Lord Jesus, You promised that at this hour You would refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of You in virtue of Your Passion; and so we implore You: For the sake of Your sorrowful Passion, let Your Mercy gush forth and cover the entire world. Bless Holy Mother Church, the Holy Father, our Bishop and all priests. Strengthen them and make them holy. Give peace to the world and to all human hearts. Enlighten leaders of nations, grant them wisdom and openness to the Holy Spirit. Take care of all the sons and daughters of the Church, and in particular the laity. Protect the faithful living in the world, safeguard their faith, hope and love. Enkindle in them the desire for holiness, so as to sanctify the world from within. Rebuild and preserve families; grant that they again be a cradle for many holy vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Look tenderly upon hardened sinners, especially those near death; inspire them with trust and repentance. Let them be saved. Welcome souls in Purgatory into the Blessed Peace of Heaven. Let all those who suffer in any way be held up by Your love and strength. Give them hope.

 

In the silence of our hearts we now present to You, Lord Jesus, our personal intentions.

 

We now also pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

 

O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church.

Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory.

May we receive You with great faith and love in Holy Communion, and allow You to act in us as You desire

for your greater glory.

O Jesus, most adorable Heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of Your heavenly Father.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

this prayer discovered here