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PDF versionBeatification Q&A #4: What’s the Divine Mercy connection?
by John L Allen Jr on Apr. 28, 2011
ROME -- For the wider world, this Sunday will be remarkable as the day when Pope John Paul II is beatified. But John Paul himself would probably insist that it’s even more significant as “Divine Mercy Sunday,” a liturgical feast based on the teachings of an early 20th century Polish nun and visionary named St. Faustina Kowalska.
John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, just after a vigil Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday, and six years later, he’s being beatified on the day itself.
John Paul, of course, always had an exquisite sense of timing, and the intersection between his death and beatification, and the Divine Mercy feast which he established in 2000, is a classic expression of it. Fr. Slawomir Oder, postulator of the sainthood cause, has written: “Of the thousands of women and men of God that [John Paul] beatified and canonized, the figure most dear to him was probably the Polish sister Faustina Kowalska, apostle of the Divine Mercy devotion.”
What was it about the teachings of Kowalska, who died of tuberculosis in 1938 at the age of 33, which so appealed to the late pope? In effect, her message and her life story stirred three deep currents in John Paul’s soul:
- His strong mystical streak
- His insistence on God as the only alternative to tyranny, especially Nazism and Communism
- His Polish nationalism
Faustina Kowalska was born in August 1905 to a peasant family in Poland, the third of ten children. She only attended school for three years until she was compelled to seek work as a housekeeper to support her family. At the age of 20 she entered a convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, where she spent the next 13 years toiling as a cook, gardener and porter.
That surface quiet, however, masked a remarkable interior life.
From 1931 to her death in 1938, Faustina reported a staggering range of spiritual experiences, including visions, a hidden stigmata, bilocation, the reading of human souls, prophecy, as well as mystical engagement and marriage. She also believed that Jesus, Mary and several saints, such as Teresa, delivered private revelations to her on a regular basis, which she recorded in a diary that eventually stretched over more than 600 pages. (It was later published with the title, Divine Mercy in My Soul.)
The basic message is that humans should be merciful as God is merciful. Put another way, it’s that human beings cannot be merciful to one another unless they first acknowledge their dependence on God’s mercy.
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Faustina’s spiritual director commissioned an artist to render a painting of Christ as he appeared in her visions, which has become a well-known image of Jesus with two rays of light streaming from his heart, with the motto “Jesus, I Trust in You.” (The red represents the blood that flowed from Christ’s side when struck with a spear on the cross, the white the water). Faustina also devised various prayers and spiritual acts which have become the basis for the “Divine Mercy” devotion as many Catholics practice it today.
John Paul II was palpably, unmistakably devoted to Faustina and her message.
He first developed a strong attachment to her and to the Divine Mercy devotion as a young seminarian. Later, as the Archbishop of Krakow in 1965, he opened Faustina’s cause for sainthood. As pope, John Paul’s 1980 encyclical Dives in Misericordia was heavily influenced by Kowalska’s teaching, although he didn’t mention her by name in the text. John Paul beatified Faustina in 1993 and canonized her in 2000, making her the first saint of the new millennium. In the same year, he established “Divine Mercy Sunday” as a feast of the universal church on the first Sunday after Easter.
To be sure, both the Divine Mercy devotion, as well as John Paul’s powerful attachment to it, have their critics. Some see Faustina’s insistence on human unworthiness as excessive. Others object to the way the feast of Divine Mercy was placed within the Easter season (in compliance with Jesus’ instructions to Faustina), hence “disrupting,” they say, the peak period on the liturgical calendar. Still others say the pope shouldn’t have used his office to foist his personal spirituality on the rest of the church.
John Paul was aware of that criticism, and yet plowed ahead. Why so?
First, the Divine Mercy phenomenon appealed to John Paul’s mystical streak. This was, after all, a pope who once contemplated a vocation as a Carmelite because he was so impressed with St. John of the Cross and his mystical theology. John Paul would spend long hours lost in prayer in chapels around the world, often lying on the chapel floor in the form of the cross. This, too, was a pope profoundly convinced that the Virgin Mary altered the flight path of a bullet on May 13, 1981 – the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and the day Mehmet Ali Ağca shot him in St. Peter’s Square – in order to save his life.
In other words, John Paul believed there is a cosmic drama churning underneath the observable events of human experience, and was impressed with the idea that an unknown and basically unlettered nun could be a pivotal actor.
Second, it always struck John Paul II as deeply significant that this message of mercy was revealed between the two World Wars, as the two great tyrannies of the 20th century were taking shape: Nazism and Communism. To John Paul, it seemed that in that historical hour of supreme mercilessness, God had reminded humanity of the only real alternative – an insight that became part of the basis for his own spiritual resistance to totalitarianism.
In Memory and Identity, John Paul’s last book as pope, he wrote that Kowalska’s message constituted “a response to the ideologies of Nazism and Communism … the only truth capable of countering those ideologies was that God is merciful.”
Finally, the fact that God chose a daughter of Poland also could not help but capture the imagination of John Paul II.
At one point, Faustina reported that Jesus had told her: “I love Poland in a special way, and, if it will be obedient to my will, I will raise it in power and holiness. From Poland will come the spark that prepares the world for my last coming.”
Despite becoming a citizen of the world, John Paul famously remained attached to his Polish roots, and his enthusiasm for Kowalska and the Divine Mercy devotion is also an expression of that national pride.
* * *
For anyone tempted to recall John Paul II as a rigid authoritarian, there’s a final element of the Faustina story worth recording.
For almost 20 years, from 1959 to 1978, Faustina’s diary and her divine mercy devotion were officially banned by the Holy Office, today’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They were suppressed one year after the young Karol Wojtyla became an auxiliary bishop in Krakow.
Initially, according to historian Andrea Riccardi, it was the legendary Cardinal Stefan Wyszinski and a few other Polish bishops who pushed for the ban, in part because they found some of her claims tough to swallow, and in part because of a misunderstanding about the Divine Mercy image. Red and white, of course, are the colors of the Polish flag, and some Poles saw the image of Jesus with red and white streaming from his heart as a provocation directed at the Communist regime – a headache that some bishops apparently felt they didn’t need.
Working from what is today recognized as a faulty Italian translation of her diary, the Holy Office in the Vatican decided that Faustina’s private revelations were quirky and effectively silenced her movement.
It was thus a minor bit of defiance for Archbishop Karol Wojtyla to open canonization proceedings for Faustina on October 21, 1965, given that her lifework was still officially censored in Rome. The ban on the Divine Mercy devotion not formally lifted until April 15, 1978, just six months before Wojtyla became pope.
All this goes to show that even John Paul II, who had no problem exercising authority when he felt the situation called for it, was also capable of subtly pushing back when he thought it was wrong. That, too, is part of the John Paul legacy.
More NCR coverage of the beatification of John Paul II
Maureen Fiedler: Beatifications and Politics
Michael Baxter: Biography of JPII raises questions about partiality
John L. Allen Jr.: In death as in life, John Paul a sign of contradiction
Gerald Slevin John Paul beatification highlights dysfunctional monarchy
John Allen's Beatification Q&As
#1: What's the Rush?
#2: What’s the deal with miracles?
#3: Why make saints out of popes?
#4: What’s the Divine Mercy connection?
"Divine Mercy Sunday a
"Divine Mercy Sunday a liturgical feast based on the teachings of an early 20th century Polish nun and visionary named St. Faustina Kowalska."
Is it just me or does anyone else feel betrayed that a "liturgical feast based on the teachings of an early 20th century Polish nun and visionary" should be imposed on the liturgical calendar on the second of Easter.
What on earth is going on here???
Why should you feel betrayed
Why should you feel betrayed because the mercy of God is being highlighted the Sunday following the great Celebration of God's love for us? Divine Mercy Sunday has little to do with St. Faustina and everything to do with the love and mercy God has shown to mankind by becoming incarnate and redeeming us from our sins. Surely this is something we should remind ourselves of every time we attend Mass?
Q&A #4-THE BASIC TRUTH:
Q&A #4-THE BASIC TRUTH: Well said, EHNasser. What on earth is going on here? Isn't the real message of this latest story from John Allen that John Paul II did whatever he pleased. One has to wonder why we are being offered this irrelevant distraction when the pending spectacle is barely a couple of days away. Of course, Vaticanologists like John Allen have built good careers on the special access they get to information from Vatican sources. Why do these sources give such special access? Would they continue to give it if he wrote reports that displeased his sources. Please think about this and decide for yourself. Now what is really happening that is noteworthy in Rome? In thinking about this and the above remarks, one should first note an important article issued yesterday that John may not yet have seen. The article is on the US Catholic Magazine's website and is entitled, "The scandal continues:Clergy abuse scandal" available at http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2011/04/scandal -continues-clergy-sex-abuse-crisis. The author is Justice Anne Burke who speaks with considerable authority. She is a life long devout Catholic, as well as a mother, grandmother and Justice on the Supreme Court of Illinois. She has professional experience in child welfare matters. As a young woman she was a founder of the Special Olympics. In 2002 she began a two year term as Chairperson of the US Bishops National Review Board on John Paul II's watch. in that capacity, she met personally and extensively in Rome with our current pope, Joseph Ratzinger, then John Paul II's top child abuse official. Anne succeeded Gov. Frank Keating, an Oklohoma Republican, who resigned suddenly from the Board. Frank had indicated to the press that the cover-up behavior of the bishops was worse than his experience with Mafia leaders when he had been a Federal prosecutor earlier. Anne believes the original Board overcame "vicious reponses" in 2002-2004 from some bishops and made some progress, such as the first national report of abuse data and some procedural standards adopted. Most importantly, Judge Burke finds as of now, 'little has changed " since 2002 in the child abuse mess. She takes into account the latest Philadelphia grand jury report as well as other current information she closely follows. Additionally, she reports on her meetings a few weeks ago in Dublin with key Irish judicial officers about the situation there and reports: "All the usual elements were there thanks to the Irish bishops: cover-up,lying, bullying, threats, the hiding of evidence, the sealing of witness testimony and most of all the willingness to let the guilty get away with the crime" No one bears greater responsibility for this outrageous situation then John Paul II and the men who are rushing to make him an instant saint. This makes a mockery of the word saint and is the ultimate scandal. The papal strategy for the last three decades has been to return the Church to the style of the pre-Vatican II absolute monarchy. Then the pope remains supreme pontiff, the curia remains the papal court, the bishops and priests are then controlled by celibacy and money and the laity get back to Pay, Pray and Obey. Clerical loyalty is substantially reinforced by the Vatican's conscious and intentional policies of toleration of outside sexual affairs and child abuse by some clerics, no matter how much the Vatican has to spend to buy this loyalty. The hidden crimes are apparently so pervasive that it seems at times as if each and every cleric, including bishops, have things in their closet that other clerics use for blackmail to keep the perverse system "prosecution proof". This cannot and will not change, especially when Catholics before the entire world glorify John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the two men most responsible for this dangerous and corrupt system. If these two men had been brought to justice and had asked me, a retired lawyer with decades of experience, I would have told them, based just on publicly available information alone, to pack their bags and expect to die in prison. Of course, with their money and power, they have so far been able to avoid prosecution. But the rule of law is now closing in on Joseph Ratzinger, even as he and his co-conspirators desperately scurry to get the illusory protection of a "saint's cover" this weekend. Some years ago, I observed my Harvard Law School mentor, Arcibald Cox, the Watergate prosecutor apply the rule of law to bring down a dangerous and corrupt US president and his criminal staff. No man is above the rule of law, not even a pope. The current pope and his staffs' numbers are about to be called and there is no where to run. They will have to answer for Cardinals Groer, Bevilaqua, Brady, Law and Rigali, for Bishops Vangheluwe, Mueller and Mixa and for Fathers Karadima and Maciel, and others to be sure.. The "mystical smokescreens" are being pierced every day by prosecutors. Even if Rigali heads to Rome to join Law soon, he will not be beyond the long arm of the law. So, may they enjoy their Roman spectacle this Sunday, it may be their last. Please note I have two related statements on the NCR website that support and amplify the above. One is an April 26 NCR article entitled "John Paul beatifiction highlights dysfunctional monarchy" and the other are my extensive comments entitled "Papal Strategy & Child Abuse" that can be found under John Allen's April 21 NCR article entitled, "Laicizing bishops, etc...." Both of these are easily accessible by typing my name "SLEVIN" into the SEARCH box at the top of this page and clicking on to the articles. Instead of paying homage this weekend as planned to a vial of blood from John Paul II, we should pay homage to the blood of all those innocent boys forcibly raped by priests who were not stopped as a result of John Paul II's false pride and ambition and his failure to address this mess honestly, completely and timely.
It's just you!
It's just you!
No it's not. It's me too.
No it's not. It's me too.
If you take issue with the
If you take issue with the image of God as being unfathomably merciful in the wake of both Lent and Easter, you are certainly free to disregard it.
I agree with you that it was
I agree with you that it was John Paul's devotion. Devine Mercy Sunday should not be the second Sunday of Easter. The Sacred Heart of Jesus has always spoken of his love and mercy....Mercy has been emphasized in many people way before Faustina.....
Why do people only see Faustina with the one that understood Christ's mercy and love......? I do not understand the rush to canonize John Paul II. Why not canonize Pope John XXIII. He was beloved by everyone. He would sneak out of the Vatican and visit prisoners, those who were hurt....he was full of mercy and compassion....He was a Shepherd of the Church.... HE was a saint!
For the answer to this
For the answer to this question, just ask anybody in downtown CHICAGO:
http://thedivinemercyproject.org/about/
I'm sorry, but liturgically, theologically, and artistically, THIS is just plain WEIRD and demonstrates what can happen when PRIVATE revelations begin to dictate PUBLIC devotions:
http://www.sanctuaryofthedivinemercy.org/Our-Lady-of-the-Sign/Our-Lady-o...
So, stuff like this is the church of the future? The fruits of the REFORM of the REFORM? Very very SCARY, MARY!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pvr_4rUtSY&feature=related
Memo to Cardinal George:
How about showing a little of that MERCY you and your minions are currently building a shrine to along the Kennedy?
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8099151
http://www.suntimes.com/5058005-417/in-shock-cardinal-george-suspends-re...
Dear Craig B.
Dear Craig B. McKee,
Liturgically, theologically, and artistically the Feast of Divine Mercy has been ordained by God to give the world an outpouring of His Divine Mercy before Jesus comes to judge. Easter is the world's greatest feast and just like in the Old Testament, the great feasts of the Lord lasted for more than one day, usually 8 days. Easter is an 8 day feast which culminates on the Octave of Easter, the Second Sunday of Easter, the Feast of Mercy, now called Divine Mercy Sunday. Like any other great festival or feast, the last day is when they draw out the grand prize. This is no different with the last day of the Feast of Easter. God and the Church is offering us a straight ticket to Heaven on that day. The Church has backed up the promise of Jesus for the total forgiveness of sins and punishment by adding a plenary indulgence that is to remain perpetually in place. Have you been celebrating a full 8 days? Read this: http://thedivinemercy.org/assets/pdf/library/moe.pdf
`Others object to the way the
`Others object to the way the feast of Divine Mercy was placed within the Easter season (in compliance with Jesus’ instructions to Faustina), hence “disrupting,” they say, the peak period on the liturgical calendar. Still others say the pope shouldn’t have used his office to foist his personal spirituality on the rest of the church.`
Put me in both of these groups! The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that private revelations, even if approved, are not part of the deposit of faith. (67) As a Catholic, I have the freedom to believe, or not, in private visions and miracles - even if they have been approved by the church.
The Divine Mercy devotions and practices were imposed on our parish by our pastor with no warning or explanation. The picture was placed in the communion line and we were told to kiss it before receiving the sacrament. This is not an invitation to explore a specific spirituality. This is imposing it on an unsuspecting community.
The abundance of devotional practices and spiritual traditions in our catholic faith give us diverse options to choose from. Some speak to our hearts, others don`t. The Divine Mercy revelations and devotions give spiritual nourishment to many, and this is good. But they should not be given primacy of place in our liturgical calendar. They should be optional - as all devotionals and spiritual traditions are.
Our God our Father had given
Our God our Father had given us free will.To believe Him or not to believe, to follow Him or not.We catholics are Christians it means believer and followers of Christ.We are urge to love Him, In order to love someone we have to know this person first. The Divine Mercy is Jesus Himself,there is nothing wrong at all knowing about The Divine Mercy, in fact there is something wrong being a catholic we do not want to know about the Divine Mercy who is Jesus Himself.
The whole message of Tbe Divine Mercy is rolled into one. complete TRUST IN JESUS , in everything.
God loves you ,He knows each one of us even the numbers of our hair He knows how many.May the Comforter and our Helper guide us ,give us a better understanding on how to find mercy in our heart which is love itself.
The Feast of Mercy is not
The Feast of Mercy is not about St. Faustina, it's about Jesus. You should not have to kiss the image of The Divine Mercy. Jesus merely asked that it be venerated, for good reason. It is to get us to visualize the Gospel and for us to be not afraid to approach Him in the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion to receive the total forgiveness of all sins and punishment.
There is so much that we are learning about the validity of the feast. We should trust that the Holy Spirit has guided the Church in these matters. Remember that God arranged that JPII die on the vigil of Mercy Sunday. If that is not a direct sign from God, I don't know what is. JPII's last words called for a greater acceptance and understanding of Divine Mercy.
Please look through this website: www.DivineMercySunday.com and read through this leaflet and trust: http://thedivinemercy.org/assets/pdf/library/moe.pdf
Thank you, Pope John Paul II!
Thank you, Pope John Paul II!
It us difficult for me to
It us difficult for me to understand why we would rush to the beatification of a man whose recent legacy is one of enabling priests to rape children and seminarians. Makes one think again if this organizations is operating from good enough sense. Instead this beatification seems to be a sign of more inner circle cultish activity in the RCC. It is shameful to praise an enabler and misogynist. In the history books this man may well be known as John Paul the Great, Enabler and Misogynist! To rush into this beatification is more indication of a Roman Curia suffering from Empty Mitre Syndrome!!
R. Dennis Porch, MD
Let him who is without sin,
Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone....
"Working from.. a faulty
"Working from.. a faulty Italian translation of her diary..." Hmmm. You mean the Italians who did the translaions did not understand the subtleties of the Polish language? Might that be true of English as well?
The Divine Mercy devotion is
The Divine Mercy devotion is a wonderful gift to the Church by Christ through St Faustina and Pope JP2.
Those of you who work for NCR would do well to know that myself and others especially pray for Catholics like you during the fifth day of the divine mercy novena (on Easter Tuesday). If you want to know why that is and what it means, I'll let you do a little bit of homework.
It might be interesting to
It might be interesting to note that it was Pope John and Pope Paul who banned the devotion which was flourishing under Pius XII and now restored by John Paul. Deo Gratias.
Betrayed? No. Just reminded
Betrayed? No. Just reminded that humans have a rather wide range in their beliefs, actions, and justifications. I'll reflect on the feast, accept it as a part, but hardly the only part, as an expression of the faith. Interesting lifetime overlap with Dorthy Day, who thought some of the hierarchy needed to be converted. Both had valid points.
An enjoyable column.
Dear Vatican Expert, so
Dear Vatican Expert, so sensitive towards such mystical exploits of “Blessed” John Paul II, the destroyer of the communist world, the persecutor of Liberation Theology and of Church’s Social Teaching, the champion of bankers and exploiters – the friend of Monsignor Escriva, of Monsignor Marcinkus, of Fr. Maciel and all the bunch of sex abusers, the Marian pagan cult promoter, one of the founders of the global system of servitude and the modern idolatry of the free market – one of the most evil forms of exploitation of the poor and oppressed since the Roman Empire or the Industrial Revolution, allow me to quote and partake with you a refreshing new:
A survey found that the majority of Americans believe that capitalism is not compatible with Christian values. The survey, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service, found that 44% of Americans expressed the belief that the two are at odds, while 36% asserted that capitalism is consistent with Christian values.
It noted significant differences by gender: Half of the women surveyed stated that capitalism and Christianity are at odds, while only 37% of the men agreed with this statement. The survey also found that 62% of Americans think "one of the biggest problems in the United States is that more and more wealth is held by just a few people." Among those surveyed, responders in the age group 18-34 were more likely to agree with this statement (71%) than those over age 65 (56%).
The research institute also noted that "Americans across the religious landscape agree clergy should be speaking out on social issues, but are more divided about economic issues." The survey queried people about the importance of religious leaders speaking out publicly on issues such as abortion, homosexuality, home foreclosures, reducing the deficit, raising the minimum wage, or the gap between the rich and poor.
Among the economic-related issues, religiously affiliated Americans most often stressed the need for their leaders to speak out about the gap between the rich and the poor. Some 61% of Catholics, 61% of minority Christians, and 51% of white evangelical Protestants underlined the importance of their religious leaders addressing this issue. The institute also noted that 58% of Americans expressed the belief that the federal budget is a moral document that reflects the nation's priorities. (Zenit.org)
Zieg Hail, Vatican expert and all your “blessed” ones. Keep on with your good work, under the skirts and the well dressed tables of Rome. I hope if you get Parkinson, it will also be considered a heroic fight. If you have an army of nuns and servile people to keep your show going on (and, in USA, at least, if Medicare cover your expenses). I pray for you, John Paul II’s soul and, above all the Church. Hoping that the Holy Spirit will take notes and amend the broken fabric of a dying ecclesiastic body.
Maybe the Popes are hoping
Maybe the Popes are hoping for Divine Mercy to excuse their miserable handling of the CSA coverup by the Hierarchs and demonstrated failure to defend or protect the innocent!!
I'm personally thankful for
I'm personally thankful for Divine Mercy Sunday and it's associated Novena. I need all the Divine Mercy I can get.
Obviously the "good" Father
Obviously the "good" Father was so diligent about praying to the virgin because of his great sins against the family and Catholic youth by knowingly protecting pedophile priests. It doesn't matter where they move his coffin or if he becomes a saint in the church, his contempt for the family/catholic youth forever declare his unholiness. The "good" Father was against the tyrannies of Nazism and Communism but unfortunately wasn't against the tyranny of pedophile priests and their protectors.
For those skeptics out there,
For those skeptics out there, how do you explain a very unlearned woman having such a profound grasp of the Faith, if not through Divine revelation? If you do a little research, you will find that Church authorities were amazed at her understanding of Church teachings, even ancient prayer, which she had no way of knowing on her own. I suspect you also reject what St.Pio had to say, as well as St. Bernadette, St. Therese, St. Catherine, St. Francis of Assisi, and so many others who have passed on what they were given through private revelation.
Actually many theologians
Actually many theologians pointed out to major problems. One of them was its theologically impossible to offer the Eternal Father the divinity of Christ to compensate for sin.Faustina claimed the Eucharist flew out of the tabernacle 3 times to rest in her hand,this seems riduculous & a sighn of pathological self delusion. Christ allegedly told her to tell her superior that she was the most faithful in her order.Her diary emphasizes that she is the greatest.Hardly something of Christ that would promote a lack of humility. Finally she could barely write & had to use phonetics,the repitions of her statements look like a case of auto-suggestion,common among those who suffer psychological issues
A key teaching of Pope John
A key teaching of Pope John Paul II is that of Universal Salvation: EVERYONE receives Divine Mercy and Eternal Life. On one ocassion he said, "Christ obtained, once and for all, the salvation of man - of EACH and of ALL men... Who can change the fact that we are redeemed? - a fact that is as powerful and fundamental as creation itself. We became again the property of the Father thanks to that love which does not recoil from the shame of the Cross to be able to guarantee salvation to ALL people. The Church announces today the paschal certitude of the resurrection, the certitude of salvation."
Re: John Allen "mystical
Re: John Allen
"mystical engagement and marriage"
Mystical engagement and marriage is baptismal, not revelation-al. Jesus calls the nuns "Spouses" not because of any revelations He gives them but because of the consecrated life He gives them. They belong to Him by Baptism and by their religious vocations, not by private revelations or apparitions.
Re: Fisherman
"Divine revelation"
Divine Revelation - the Revelation of God, the Word of God, the Sacred Scriptures (written Word) and Sacred Tradition (oral Word) - is not private revelation - a message for an individual for a certain time and place.
Divine Revelation is completed in Public Revelation - Jesus Christ - because God has revealed everything in His Word Incarnate. That Revelation is the Word of God and Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh is no coincidence but Providence, as even the predestination of the Mother of God does show.
Private revelation is oriented to Public Revelation. So someone who receives a revelation can learn the Faith, as you said of Saint Faustina: She had a great knowledge of the Faith which astounded people and could not be easily explained. Certainly she learned much from apparitions, but she more often learned from Divine Revelation. We must all drink up the Word of God!
JOHN ALLEN GIVES US A LAUGH:
JOHN ALLEN GIVES US A LAUGH: "All this goes to show that even John Paul II, who had no problem exercising authority when he felt the situation called for it, was also capable of subtly pushing back when he thought it was wrong. That, too, is part of the John Paul legacy."
Of course, history shows us that John Paul II found nothing wrong with the Legionaries of Christ and its founder Marcial Maciel Delgado
All these extraordinary
All these extraordinary devotions, apparitions, visions and the free flowing "gifts of the spirit" of the Charismatic movement, yet not one had been given the prophecy of truth discernment or whatever, in relation to the sex-abuse rampant in the Church, the torturing of the soul's of so many, or a warning for those covering it up.
I even knew of a case where a clergyman, with a woman he had requested to be released from his vows for and carrying his child, under their very nose and not one word of the spirit "breaking through".
Padre Pio, where was he, both brothers and a wall of silence.
Somehow he has succeeded in escaping scrutiny in JP11 day.
It all used to worry me once when I could see the manipulation of the simple faithfull, not anymore, we all have eyes to see and it's up to ourselves to expect things to add up.
I think that the Divine Mercy
I think that the Divine Mercy devotions are connected to the other great devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus fom an earlier generation. Such devotions should be encouraged in order to bring about hope and joy to all who struggle to find an understanding God. A God often obscured by restrictive love statements sometimes found in the writings of some within the Church.
Devotions to the sacred Heart
Devotions to the sacred Heart of Jesus in an earlier generation; and devotions to the Divine Mercy of today are most welcome. They bring about a deeper faith, renewed hope and encouragement to all who struggle. The restrictive love that is sometimes perceived by the faithful when hearing or reading some statments by some priests, bishops and in the Vatican can wound people.
The devotions to the Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy encourage hope and trust in God.
"It was thus a minor bit of
"It was thus a minor bit of defiance for Archbishop Karol Wojtyla to open canonization proceedings for Faustina on October 21, 1965, given that her lifework was still officially censored in Rome. The ban on the Divine Mercy devotion not formally lifted until April 15, 1978, just six months before Wojtyla became pope."
## Hardly "minor". He sounds like just another "dissenter". He knew perfectly well that such laws bound in conscience, under pain of sin. A Pope who cannot obey the Church's laws, who defies them in even the slightest particular, is not fit to be beatified. And a Pope cannot complain of disobedience to himself, when he has not obeyed his own superiors.
Disobedience is not minor, even if the issue is minor: it is a sin, and all the worse a sin when those guilty of it are bishops. A Saint would not behave like that. The devotion is excellent, no doubt; but that is no excuse for a bishop to defy a law that it was his business to know of.
Pope John Paul II was not
Pope John Paul II was not disobedient or in defiance of the Holy See. When he was attending Vatican II he was being pressured by the people of Poland to move the canonization process forward, but he was afraid to. He asked the Holy See about it and was told by a cardinal "what, you haven't started the investigation already? Hurry up before all of the witnesses are dead."
The liturgical texts for the
The liturgical texts for the 2nd Sunday of Easter were arranged in the years 1968-69,when the Divine Mercy devotion was still under a cloud. Yet,several of the texts speak of mercy,e.g. the short reading at 1st Vespers,the collect at the mass,the responsorial psalm,and the 2nd reading at Mass. And I suspect the compilers of these texts were not individuals devoted to "schmaltzy" private devotions,such as the Divine Mercy. But the message got through providentially. Strange,how the Holy Spirit works. "Digitus Dei est hic".4
When Pope John Paul II was
When Pope John Paul II was attending Vatican II, he asked the Holy See if he should pursue the cause of St. Faustina because the people of Poland were urging him to do something. He was told by a cardinal "What, you haven't started already? Hurry up before all of the witnesses are dead". Don't be too quick to judge anything that he did, including the fulfilling of Christ's will to establish a Feast of Mercy on the Sunday after Easter. That Sunday, which is the Octave of Easter, is absolutely perfect for this feast and this has been ordained from day one. The Octave of Easter is the Grande Finalle of the world's greatest feast, that is, the Feast of Easter. The world's greatest feast should have the world's greatest gift, that is, a straight ticket to Heaven for anyone that goes to Confession and receives Communion of that final day of the feast. Like most other feasts or festivals, the last day is when they draw out the grand prize. It is no different with Easter.
We are still learning so much more on how this feast is God's perfect plan. Please read: http://divinemercysunday.com/documents_for_bishops_priests.htm
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