Photo above is of the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Basilica of Santo Spirito, Rome, Italy

My Jesus, it is truly easy to become holy; it just takes a little good will! And if He finds this minimum of good will in a soul, He quickly gives Himself to her. And nothing can stop Him, neither our faults nor our falls, absolutely nothing. Jesus hurries to help that soul; and if the soul is faithful to this grace from God, she can in a short time reach the highest levels of holiness that a created being can attain here below. God is very generous and does not refuse His grace to anyone. He gives even more than we ask for. The shortest road is faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), baptized with the name Helena, was one of ten children born to a devout, peasant farming family in Poland. She grew up during the tough years leading up to and following the first World War, and received little formal education. She worked as a poor housekeeper before following her religious vocation at the age of 20, entering the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow. There she was given simple, humble jobs which hid her deep interior life. St. Faustina was graced with mystical visions and revelations from Jesus, as well as her Guardian Angel and certain saints. Jesus gave her the mission to proclaim his infinite, powerful, loving mercy to the whole world, especially to hardened sinners and those facing the hour of their death. St. Faustina, as Jesus’ “secretary and apostle of Divine Mercy”, faithfully recorded these messages in great detail in a nearly 700-page diary. In it she promoted devotion to the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ as instructed by Our Lord himself, now famous throughout the Church, and a great consolation for many souls who would otherwise fear to approach God because of their burden of sin. She died at the age of 33 from tuberculosis. Pope St. John Paul II made St. Faustina the first saint of the new millennium and established the Shrine of Divine Mercy.  Since the beatification of St. Faustina in 1993, the church has been served by the sisters from her Order. (Summary of the life of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska provided by The Catholic Company, Morning Offering for October 5, the feast day of this saint.)

Oh, what awesome mysteries take place during Mass! One day we will know what God is doing for us in each Mass, and what sort of gift He is preparing in it for us. Only His divine love could permit that such a gift be provided for us. O Jesus, my Jesus, with what great pain is my soul pierced when I see this fountain of life gushing forth with such sweetness and power for each soul, while at the same time I see souls withering away and drying up through their own fault. O Jesus, grant that the power of mercy embrace these souls. — St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 914 Excerpt from Diary of St. Faustina (Photo left is of a statue of this saint in the courtyard of the sanctuary of the Mother of God in Swieta Katarzyna, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland)

 

As Christians, we are convinced of God’s power to intervene in human life. Indeed, He has shed His gentle grace in the lives of all believers, sometimes with breathtaking results. And yet, our merciful Lord has also seen fit to give us His guidance in extraordinary ways too… and some of them have been left visible as a testament for generations. In Christian Europe, there are many miracles which endure today… from miracles of the Blessed Eucharist which have stood for centuries, to the testimony of saints and converted sinners who have become beacons of God’s love and concern for us pilgrims on our earthly journey.

Our Miracles of Mercy Pilgrimage scheduled for April 2020, seeks to bring pilgrims in contact with a few of these visible miracles – and also a few “miracles of the heart” which are not so visible, and yet no less compelling.

On this unique and faith-filled pilgrimage, you will witness miracles like the astounding Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano (photo, left)  — a consecrated Host that turned into human flesh and has remained so for centuries — and the miracle of one man who disdained the Catholic faith, only to be confronted with an apparition of the Mother of  Christ herself, a vision which transformed his life and spread devotion to her throughout an entire country.  And all of this surrounding the pre-eminent feast of Divine Mercy, the feast of God’s mercy toward sinners, given in modern times as a sign of hope to this fallen world.

For information about our Miracles of Mercy pilgrimage and other pilgrimages through Italy that begin in Rome with a visit to the Basilica of Santo Spirito for confession and Mass; and to spend time in the Shrine of  Divine Mercy , click HERE.

For information about the Divine Mercy Chaplet and other related devotions, click HERE to go to divinemercy.life

Click HERE to go to The Catholic Company website, Morning Offering sign up page.