“O my God, I am overcome with great longing for You today.  Oh, nothing else any longer occupies my heart.  There no longer contains anything for me.  O Jesus, how strongly I feel this exile, how very prolonged it is for me.  O death, messenger of God, when will you announce to me that longed-for moment, through which I will be united to my God forever?”

St. Faustina’s Diary (1573)

Today is the Feastday of my gal-pal-hero, St. Faustina Kowalska!

I love this day.

I love the opportunity to be especially mindful of giving thanks for a Saint who has touched my heart, strenghtened my spiritual walk and lovingly taught me: “Jesus, I trust in You.”  I long to sit alone at some point today, with my God, and feel the smooth pages of St. Faustina’s Diary between my fingers; as my eyes rest in the words she left for us to comprehend God’s Mercy.

This past August I visited the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  First class relics of both St. Faustina & Pope John Paul II are there.

The peace & joy I felt while praying before them is still with me.

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalski (1950-1938) was a young member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland.  Born into a poor farming family, she had only two-and-a-half years of basic education, and so was assigned the humblest tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or garden.  However, she received extraordinary revelations from the Lord Jesus, proclaiming God’s loving message of Divine Mercy, which he instructed her to record.

To celebrate her feast day, may we all reflect on these beautiful quotes from her diary:

“I have found that the greatest power is hidden patience. I see that patience always leads to victory, although not immediately; but that victory will become manifest after many years.”

“O inconceivable goodness of God, which shields us at every step, may Your mercy be praised without cease.  That You became a brother to humans, not to angels, is a miracle of the unfathomable mystery of Your mercy.  All our trust is in You…”

“O Lamb of God, I do not know what to admire in You first:  Your gentleness, Your hidden life, the emptying of Yourself for the sake of man, or the constant miracle of Your mercy, which transforms souls and raises them up to eternal life.”

Saint Maria Faustina, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. (Diary, 281,1582.)

Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to “distribute graces as you will, to whom you will, and when you will.” (Diary, 31.)

Relying on this, I ask your intercession for the graces I need, especially…

(here mention your special intentions)

Help me, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of my life.  Amen.

hugs n’ blessings to all those with great longing in their hearts!

(To read more about Divine Mercy and my gal-pal-hero or Helen Kowalska the golden-retriever, please click above on my toolbar.)