Dear Father Angelo,
I am writing to you again because I read with interest and joy the Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska, including the work of Pope John Paul II promoting her figure—up to her beatification.
Then, a few days ago, I came across an article by a priest (usually very critical, to put it mildly, of the post-conciliar Church) in which he strongly criticized the cult of Divine Mercy. He pointed out, as is well known, the negative opinion given by the then Holy Office on the text of the Diary, and asserted that such a cult ends up presupposing a Mercy of God freely distributed to all and, in effect, a denial of Hell.
Indeed, dear Father, and this is why I’m writing to you, throughout the pages of the Diary there’s never any mention (or at least very little) of the need for repentance and a change of life to obtain God’s mercy.
In short, a sort of Mercy without Repentance… I’m quite confused…
What do you think, Father? Can you help me?
Thank you, and best regards.
Priest’s answer
Dear friend,
1. Sister Faustina’s Diary certainly inspires confidence in God’s mercy toward sinners.
This mercy, however, does not come cheaply, because the Lord asks us to pray for their conversion.
God’s mercy is not an empty word but is expressed in the repentance given to sinners and in the grace of conversion.
In the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, it is constantly repeated: “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
That mercy has a price, and it is the sacrifice of Jesus.
We unite ourselves to His sacrifice with our own sacrifice.
First of all, with that of prayer to implore the grace of repentance and conversion.
2. It is untrue that Saint Faustina’s Diary makes no mention of repentance and reparation.
For example, on Christmas Eve 1933 she wrote: “Today Jesus said to me, I desire that you know more profoundly the love that burns
in My Heart for souls, and you will understand this when you meditate upon My Passion. Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their (93) salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion. This is the prayer:“O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You”.
3. Saint Faustina is aware that God’s mercy also comes through the grace of atonement.
For this reason, on March 25, 1935, he wrote: “Then I saw the souls who were doing penance in purgatory. They appeared like shadows, and among them I saw many demons”.
4. The grace of conversion also comes through personal penance, united with the sacrifice of Jesus.
Sister Faustina desires not only to make some sacrifice, but to offer herself as a holocaust in union with that of Jesus.
The holocaust is the sacrifice in which everything is given.
For this reason, on January 30, 1937, she wrote: “O Jesus, how sorry I feel for poor sinners. Jesus, grant them contrition and repentance. Remember Your own sorrowful Passion. I know Your infinite mercy and cannot bear it that a soul that has cost You so much should perish. Jesus, give me the souls of sinners; let Your mercy rest upon them. Take everything away from me, but give me souls. I want to become a sacrificial host for sinners. Let the shell of my body conceal my offering, for Your Most Sacred Heart is also hidden in a Host, and certainly You are a living sacrifice. Transform me into Yourself, O Jesus, that I may be a living sacrifice and pleasing to You. I desire to atone at each moment for poor sinners. The sacrifice of my spirit is hidden under the veil of the body; the human eye does not perceive it, and for that reason it is pure and pleasing to You”.
5. Likewise, February 10, 1937, is Ash Wednesday. Sister Faustina determines some penitential practices. She writes her intention: “to beg divine mercy for poor sinners, and for priests, the power to bring sinful hearts to repentance”.
6. Here is how she herself makes reparation for individual sins.
On August 16, 1937, he wrote: “I came to know of the condition of a certain soul and of what in that soul is displeasing to
God. I learn it in the following way: I immediately feel pain in my hands, my feet and my
side, in those places where the hands, feet and side of the Savior were pierced. At that
same time, I receive knowledge of the soul’s condition and of the nature of the sin
committed. I experience a desire to make reparation to the Lord Jesus in a way which corresponds [to the offense. Today I wore a chain belt for seven hours in order to obtain the grace of repentance for that soul. In the seventh hour I felt relief as the soul experienced interiorly the remission of its sin, although it had not yet gone to confession. For sins of the flesh, I mortify the body and fast to the degree that I am permitted. For sins of pride, (14) I pray with my forehead touching the floor. For sins of hatred, I pray and do some good deed for a person whom I find difficult. And thus I make amends according to the nature of the sin of which I am aware”.
7. As can be seen, the message God conveys through Saint Faustina perfectly corresponds to what was revealed to Saint Paul: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church,” (Colossians 1:24).
Therefore, do not be confused. Continue with prayer and self-offering, and invoke divine mercy, which is expressed in the grace of repentance and conversion through prayer and sacrifice.
I bless you, wish you all the best, and remember you in prayer.
Father Angelo
