Divine Mercy

In 1994, I turned 30.  I was mom to three little boys, Ian, aged seven, Jacob, aged four, and Tony, whose age was still tallied in months.  I was expecting a new little Elliott in late August or early September.

John was working hard to support us, his full time employment was as a kitchen and bath designer, and part time work was at a gas station.  This was back when attendants still pumped gas, washed windshields, and checked oil levels.  He was gone most days for up to 15 hours or more.  For awhile, he even held a third job--teaching karate at the YMCA.

My days were not just full, they were overflowing!  With loads of laundry, fingerprints on walls, dirty dishes in the sink, and never ending hungry mouths to feed.  It was a time of great joy, but also, much hard work.  

For the most part, I loved being pregnant.  I used to be very thin, actually so thin that I was sometimes questioned about my being anorexic.  I was not anorexic.  I always had a high metabolism, until I got into my late 40s, when that changed.  So, even when I was expecting, I remained very thin, with what looked like a basketball beneath my loose blouse.  

Because of my slight frame, when my babies were in utero, it was very easy to watch their movements.  It was like watching a child move under a thin sheet.  It was even possible to see elbows, knees, and feet protruding from my tummy.  I relished those nine months.  

Even though I am past my childbearing years, I regularly dream about being pregnant.  I had always wanted to have many children, and I thank God for the six he gave me.  

Summer, 1994.  I don't recall how I first heard of a book called Divine Mercy In My Soul, but I bought a copy for myself.  My baby was due at the end of summer, and I was uncomfortable in the heat and humidity.  My feet would swell most days, I felt irritable, and had to sleep with a fan blowing directly on me.  Oh, and the nausea, it was much worse with this pregnancy.  

At that time, our living room couch had a pull out sleeper.  I would find myself sleeping downstairs because we had no relief from the brutal weather.  Our windows in this old house needed replaced (they have been since that time), and most of them were painted shut.  Our house was like a sauna.  Upstairs was always 10 degrees warmer than the bottom level.

Every day, I would keep my new book beside me, and I would read passages throughout the day.  It took me the entire summer to read Divine Mercy In My Soul (or The Diary Of St. Faustina) because it is a long book.  


St. Faustina was a young Polish nun who had divine revelations from Jesus Himself.  The book was written at his command, for He wished that the world would have knowledge of His infinite Mercy.  These revelations took place in the 1930's.  Because they are considered private revelation, the faithful are not required to believe in them, but the Church has thoroughly investigated the messages and approved them as "worthy of belief".

As I read Faustina's diary, I found myself being transformed.  My entire life had led up to this time, when I was ripe to enter into this mystery of mercy, something I had never understood or thought much about.

Christ's Mercy is unfathomable.  He said to Faustina, "My daughter, write that the greater misery of a soul, the greater its right to my mercy; urge all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My Mercy, because I want to save them all. Diary 723

I desire trust from My creatures. Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy. Diary 1059

Jesus tenderness and unlimited love for us comes to life through the Diary.  This book literally changed my life.  Jesus appeared to St. Faustina, and instructed her to have a painting made exactly as she had seen Him.

St. Faustina found a local artist, who was able to paint the picture (not to her liking, for she had seen the Lord, and no painting could capture His true countenance). 



 Jesus consoled her by explaining by saying to her,  "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace" (313). 

He said,

" Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (Diary, 47, 48). I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You (327). I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world (47)." 

Faustina asked about the rays that flowed from His heart.  He answered, 

"The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (299). By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works (742)."

 This past Sunday, the Church celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday.  It was the express request of Jesus, that a feast would be proclaimed within the Church, in order to praise and access the Divine Mercy.

  In 2001, Pope John Paul II saw to it that Jesus' request was granted.  The first official feast of The Divine Mercy was celebrated around the world, on the Sunday after Easter, where it would remain as an annual feast.

August came and went, and I was still pregnant.  Labor started late at night on August 31st, and around 3:30 am, our little girl, Maria Rose, made her debut.  

That hot, hardworking 'pregnant' summer, I learned all about the depths of God's Mercy, and I got a beautiful baby girl, too.

Jesus, I trust in You!