My dear friends in Christ, on Divine Mercy Sunday weekend, I was asked to speak to three congregations celebrating the Feast for the first time. Afterwards, the participants requested that I share the information that I presented on our web-site, so it is included below. I am very happy to report that, as a result of the weekend, a new Divine Mercy prayer group has been established.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO
THE DIVINE MERCY MESSAGE & DEVOTION
(a presentation made by Willy Effinger)

Why another devotion? What is it all about?

Why didn’t someone tell us to get ready while we still had time?
He is coming – that is a fact! When and how is up to our Almighty God.

The Lord warned us throughout Holy Scripture – woe to the bridesmaids who are not ready and waiting.

He spoke through the prophets of old and speaks through prophets of our time.
He spoke through our Blessed Mother as in La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje.
The writings of the Saints try to wake us up and encourage us to pray [St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. John Vianney, St. Margaret Mary (Sacred Heart), just to name a few of my favourites]
Still, we are found sleeping like the apostles in the Garden at Gethsemane (“Can you not wait with Me for a little while?”) Worse yet, we are not only sleeping but sinning gravely!!
We disregard the importance of Reconciliation.

Jesus points out the importance of this Sacrament to Saint Faustina in Diary entry #1602:
Daughter, when you go to Confession, to this Fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this Fount of Mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.

Then, in Diary entry 1784, we read these words of Our Lord:
"How very much I desire the salvation of souls! My dearest secretary, write that I want to pour out My divine life into human souls and sanctify them, if only they were willing to accept My grace. The greatest sinners would achieve great sanctity, if only they would trust in My mercy. The very depths of My being are filled to overflowing with mercy, and it is being poured out upon all I have created. My delight is to act in a human soul and fill it with My mercy and to justify it. My Kingdom on earth is My life in the human soul. Write, My secretary, that I Myself am the spiritual guide of souls – and I guide them indirectly through the priest, and lead each one to sanctity by a road known to Me alone."

Too many Roman Catholics dishonour the Most Blessed Sacrament by going to Communion like cattle to the water or oxen to the hay but the Devotion to Divine Mercy gives us hope for Jesus said: “I am giving you the time of mercy before I come as a just Judge”

Who is Saint Faustina?

Helena Kowalska born August 25, 1905 in Poland to a poor farming family, the third of 10 children
At age 7, she heard the Lord speak to her for the first time, calling her to a more perfect way of life
At age 9, after First Holy Communion a neighbour asked Helena why she was walking alone and not with the other children in her class. She innocently responded, “I am not alone, for the Lord Jesus is with me.”
After only three years of schooling, she had to work as a housemaid to help provide for her family’s needs
After working for a year, (at age 15) she asked her parents’ permission to enter the convent, but they refused her request. in obedience, she went back to work.
At age 19, she heard the voice of the Lord at a dance: “How long must I wait for you and how long will you keep putting Me off?” Immediately, Helena left the dance, ran to a nearby Church and prostrated before the Lord, asking for direction. He tells her: “Go to Warsaw and enter a convent there.”
She left on the next train for Warsaw without saying goodbye to her family. Helena began knocking on the doors of many convents. All refused her until she came to the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Mother General asked her to go the Lord of the House (in front of the Blessed Sacrament in their Chapel) to ask if He accepts her. Of course, our Lord did accept her and so did Mother General. She received her habit and religious name Sister Mary Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament on April 30, 1926
She made her temporary vows two years later and her perpetual vows on May 1, 1933.
Unknown to her fellow Sisters, Sister Faustina began conversing with the Lord and He showed Himself to her as the merciful Lord with the rays coming forth from the area of His Heart
The merciful Lord gave Sister Faustina many revelations about the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Novena of Divine Mercy, the Feast of Mercy and asked her to record these things so that she could make it known to all of mankind
Sister Faustina suffered tuberculosis with dignity and peace of heart; her suffering included severe pain in her entrails (a Sister once remarked that there was a stench around her like a decaying corpse) - she also suffered from invisible stigmata, darkness of the soul and constant ridicule from other Sisters
The Lord called her His Secretary of Divine Mercy and told her that it is her responsibility to make this known to all; otherwise she would have to anwer for many lost souls
On Oct. 5, 1938, at age 33 (same as our Lord) she passed on to the Bosom of the Lord to continue her work from above as foretold by prompting many apostles of Divine Mercy to fulfill the request of our Lord. Towards the end of her life, St. Faustina recorded these words of encouragement for us:

"Poor earth, I will not forget you. Although I feel that I will be immediately drowned in God as in an ocean of happiness, that will not be an obstacle to my returning to earth to encourage souls and incite them to trust in God's mercy"

the mission was and still is to save mankind from eternal damnation and to ready ourselves for His second coming. Jesus said to St. Faustina:

While there is still time
let mankind have recourse to the Fount of My Mercy.”

THE ESSENTIALS OF THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION

I: The Image

On February 22, 1931 the Lord appeared as the Merciful Saviour to St. Faustina in her cell and said to her:
"Paint an Image according to the pattern you see with the signature Jesus I trust in You. I desire that this Image be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the world." (Entry #47)

"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." (Entry #48)

In 1934, Jesus said to St. Faustina:
"I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is the Image with the signature: Jesus I trust in You." (Entry #327)

On the Feast of Christ the King in 1935, Saint Faustina recorded the following words in her Diary:
"During Holy Mass I prayed fervently that Jesus might become King of all hearts and that divine grace might shine in every soul. Then I saw Jesus as He is depicted in the Image and He said to me, My daughter, you give Me the greatest glory by faithfully fulfilling My desires.>(Entry #500)

II: The Feast of Mercy

At the beginning of Diary entry #300, we read:

"Ask of My faithful servant that, on this day, he tell the whole world of My great mercy; that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy."

The merciful Lord also asked Saint Faustina to record the following words, found in Diary Entry #699:

"My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity ... The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy."

Finally, in Diary entry 1448, St. Faustina records these words of Jesus:
"... it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late."

Conditions for the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment:

trust in God's mercy
active love of neighbour (through prayer, word or deed)
be in the state of grace (Confession within a week of Mercy Sunday)
worthy reception of Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday

III: The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

This powerful prayer, given to St. Faustina in 1935, is a means to obtain God's pardon.

"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." (entry #687)

The directions about how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy can be found in Diary Entry #476. The words that we pray are as follows:

"Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Your dearly Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

"My daughter, encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the Chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one ... Write that when they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the Just Judge but as the Merciful Saviour." (Excerpts from Diary entry #1541)

"Say the Chaplet I have taught you and the storm will cease ... Through the Chaplet, you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will." (Excerpts from Diary entry #1731)

IV: The Hour of Great Mercy

In 1937, the Lord said to St. Faustina:
"As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it ... for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul." (Entry #1572)
"At three o'clock implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the Hour of Great Mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion." (Entry #1320)

V: The Novena to the Divine Mercy

In Diary entry #796, we read:

"The Lord told me to say this Chaplet for nine days before the Feast of Mercy. It is to begin on Good Friday. By this novena, I will grant every possible grace to souls."

"I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the Fount of My mercy, that they may draw therefrom strength and refreshment and whatever graces they need in the hardships of life and, especially, at the hour of death. On each day, you will bring to My Heart a different group of souls, and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy, and I will bring all these souls into the House of My Father. You will do this in this life and in the next. I will deny nothing to any soul whom you will bring to the Fount of My mercy. On each day, you will beg My Father, on the strength of My bitter Passion, for graces for these souls." (Entry #1209)

The specific prayers the Lord requested of St. Faustina for each day of the Novena are recorded in Notebook III, Diary entries 1210 – 1230.

VI: Trust and Conversion

In Diary entries 186 & 187, St. Faustina recorded these words of Jesus:
" ... Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion. This is the prayer: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus, as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You."

In Diary entry #598, St. Faustina wrote:
"Oh, how ardently I desire that every soul would praise Your mercy. Happy is the soul that calls upon the mercy of the Lord. It will see that the Lord will defend it as His glory, as He has said. And who would dare fight against God? All you souls, praise the Lord's mercy by trusting in His mercy all your life and especially at the hour of your death. And fear nothing, dear soul, whoever you are; the greater the sinner, the greater his right to Your mercy, O Lord. O incomprehensible goodness! God is the first to stoop to the sinner. O Jesus, I wish to glorify Your mercy on behalf of thousands of souls. I know very well, O my Jesus, that I am to keep telling souls about Your goodness, about Your incomprehensible mercy."

In the last half of Diary entry #723, we can read:
"...I perform works of mercy in every soul. The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy. My mercy is confirmed in every work of My hands. He who trusts in My mercy will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine and his enemies will be shattered at the base of My footstool."

These words of Jesus can be found in Diary entry #1488:
"My child, life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for My Kingdom. But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing. Take the vessel of trust and draw from the fountain of life - for yourself, but also for other souls, especially such as are distrustful of My goodness."

So, now you may wonder how we can bring Divine Mercy into our everyday lives.

Be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful
Be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy
Be obedient to the will of God: practice humility
Live the Beatitudes
Live and practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy:

"Truly I say to you, whatever you did to the least of My brothers, you did it to Me!"

go regularly to Confession
partake in the Eucharist wholeheartedly and recognize WHO you are receiving
participate in Eucharistic Adoration as often as possible
learn to trust Him in everything, every day of your life

The Simple ABC's of Mercy:

Ask for His mercy; Be merciful; Complete trust
My friends, DIVINE MERCY HAS TO BECOME A WAY OF LIFE – it should not just be a once-a-year fix!! Divine Mercy can bring profound changes in ANYONE. If we want to be counted among those who are already enjoying eternal life, all we need to do is to open our hearts wide to the graces that flow from the most merciful Heart of Jesus!!