Year of Mercy - Diocese of Manchester

Year of
Mercy
Pilgrimage and Journal Keeping Guide
Part 4
Saints in Mercy
Diocese of
Manchester
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The Jubilee Year of Mercy, which began on
December 8, 2015 and will continue until November
20, 2016, is an invitation and an opportunity. We are
invited to participate fully and joyfully with people
throughout the world in a year-long experience and
celebration of God’s infinite love and mercy.
As an aid to responding to this invitation and
opportunity, resources will be posted each month.
This fourth installment includes:
• Reflection: We Are All Called to be Saints
• Suggestions for Pilgrimage, Journaling and Acts
of Mercy
• Highlights: St. Faustina Kowalska and Divine
Mercy
• Resources for praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet
and Novena
Year of Mercy
Reflection for April
We Are All Called to Be Saints
“Our prayer also extends to the saints
and blessed ones who made divine mercy
their mission in life.” Pope Francis (MV 24)
Pope Francis has said, “We are all called
to be saints,” but holiness is not “granted
only to those who have the opportunity
to break away from the ordinary tasks,
to devote themselves to prayer.” Rather,
everyone is called to holiness in their
own state of life. “Indeed,” he said,
“it is by living with love and offering
Christian witness in our daily tasks that
we are called to become saints… Always
and everywhere you can become a saint,
that is, by being receptive to the grace
that is working in us and leads us to
holiness.”
The lives of saints can motivate us by
their example. Stories of the lives of
saints over the centuries and around the
world can be completely different. Their
similarities, what makes them saints,
is at some point each and every one of
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them made a decision to put God first in
his or her life. The saints all had a heart
set on loving God above all, they gave
their hearts to God, and in their hearts
they made choices that directed and
oriented their lives. We read about the
saints, pray to saints, are inspired by the
lives of saints, learn from saints’ lives in
mercy, because they have accepted and
embraced God’s mercy themselves.
“Be holy by becoming a visible sign
of God’s love and His presence beside
us. This is it: every state of life leads
to holiness, always! At home, on the
streets, at work, at church, in the
moment and with the state of life that
you have, a door is opened on the road
to sainthood. Do not be discouraged
to travel this road. God gives you the
grace to do so. And this is all that the
Lord asks, is that we are in communion
with Him and serve others.” Pope
Francis (General Audience, Wednesday,
19/11/14)
During this Year of Mercy, we are
reminded that God, the source of all
mercy, provides us with an experience
so great that we have no choice but to
reflect it to our own brother and sister.
Mercy calls for an outward response,
which is made clear in the examples of
the Corporal and Spiritual Works of
Mercy. You can feed the hungry, comfort
the sick and forgive offenses. These
are all outward-focused actions that
recognize the deep need and dignity of
the person and call for a direct response.
Journal
How do I accept God’s mercy in my own
life?
Do I find it more challenging to accept
God’s mercy or to share it with others?
What act of mercy is most challenging
to live?
Pilgrimage
Consider a pilgrimage to the
National Shrine of Divine
Mercy located in Stockbridge
Massachusetts.
www.marian.org/shrine/about.php
Act of Mercy
Pope Francis calls us in this Year of
Mercy to be merciful like the Father is
merciful. Just as our Lord has mercy
on us when we choose to do wrong, in
our doubts, arrogance, selfishness, and
at times in spite of ourselves, our act
of mercy might be to strive to forgive
others and bear wrongs patiently.
For more resources on celebrating the Year of Mercy visit www.catholicnh.org/mercy.
Year of Mercy
Saint Highlight
Saint Faustina Kowalska
Saint Faustina was born Helena
Kowalska in Poland on August 25, 1905.
The third of ten children she entered
the Congregation of the Sisters of Our
Lady of Mercy when she was almost
twenty years of age. The Sisters devoted
themselves to the care and education of
troubled young women.
In the 1930’s, Sister Faustina began
to write her Diary, Divine Mercy in
My Soul containing her reflections
and insights about Divine Mercy. Her
special devotion to Mary Immaculate,
and to the sacraments of Eucharist and
Reconciliation, gave her the strength to
bear all her sufferings. She offered this
to God on behalf of the Church and
those in special need, especially great
sinners and the dying.
She wrote and suffered in secret, with
only her spiritual director and some
of her superiors aware that anything
special was taking place in her life. After
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Manchester
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her death from tuberculosis in 1938,
even her closest associates were amazed
as they began to discover what great
sufferings and deep mystical experiences
had been given to Sister Faustina,
who had always been so cheerful and
humble. She had taken deeply into her
heart God’s gospel command to “be
merciful even as your heavenly Father
is merciful” as well as her confessor’s
directive that she should act in such a
way that everyone who came in contact
with her would go away joyful. The
message of mercy that Sister Faustina
received is now being spread throughout
the world; her diary, Divine Mercy in
My Soul, has become the handbook for
devotion to the Divine Mercy.
Not all saints have left us with
reflections and insights of Divine Mercy.
But all the saints model for us Matthew
5:48, “be perfect as your heavenly Father
is perfect.”
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Sister Faustina received a vision of Jesus
in which he asked that all sinners pray
the Chaplet and meditate on His mercy.
“Encourage souls to say the chaplet
which I have given you” (Diary, no.
1541). “Whoever will recite it will
receive great mercy at the hour of
death. … Even if there were a sinner
most hardened, if he were to recite this
chaplet only once, he would receive
grace from My infinite mercy. I desire
that the whole world know My infinite
mercy” (Diary, no. 687).
The image of Divine Mercy associated
with the chaplet was originally painted
by Eugene Kazimierowski with guidance
from Sister Faustina.
Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in a vision,
with his right hand raised in a blessing
and his left touching his garment above
his heart. Red and white rays emanate
from his heart, symbolizing the blood
and water that was poured out for our
salvation and our sanctification. The
Lord requested that “Jesus, I trust in
You” be inscribed under his image.
Jesus asked that his image be painted
and venerated throughout the world: “I
promise that the soul that will venerate
this image will not perish” (Diary, no.
48) and “By means of this image I will
grant many graces to souls” (Diary, no.
742).
Year of Mercy
Divine Mercy Resources
Divine Mercy Novena
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Source: USCCB
Spiritual Works of Mercy
for Busy Moms
Pastoral Resources for Living
the Jubilee: The Saints in
Mercy
This book is one in a series of eight,
promulgated by the Pontifical
Council for the Promotion of the
New Evangelization, which are the
official catechetical resources for
the Jubilee of Mercy. Available from
Our Sunday Visitor.
This list is a great reminder that these Works
of Mercy are intended to be practiced both
inside and outside your home.
CLICK HERE to download the checklist from
Ave Maria Press.
Divine Mercy Infographic
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is recited using
ordinary rosary beads. It is preceded by two
opening prayers from the Diary of St. Faustina
and followed by a closing prayer.
CLICK HERE to download the Divine Mercy
Infographic from Ave Maria Press.