John Paul II, the Feast of the Mercy Pope

Today is the feast of a favorite contemporary, Pope Saint John Paul II. It is celebrated on the anniversary of his papal inauguration. 

As pope, he fulfilled the wishes that Jesus asked in revelations decades earlier to Sister Faustina that the Divine Mercy celebration be recognized and held the Sunday after Easter each year. The pope made the feast official for the Church in the year 2000, also approving Sister Faustina to be recognized as Saint Faustina -- the first saint of the new millennium. The pope died on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005. He was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2014. 

His faith in suffering is a model for all. 

This prayer is from the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.

O Merciful Savior, you blessed the Church and the world with the holy life and papal ministry of St. John Paul II. May we, through his intercession, receive every grace and blessing that you, in your Divine Mercy, wish to give us. Amen.

St. John Paul II, pray for us!

Go to Jesus for Help Through Confession

If you need help for the impossible, you must ask -- and ask through the sacrament of Holy Confession. That is what approaching the throne of grace does for us as today's Mass reading says. 

We humble ourselves before God in the sacrament of Holy Confession and ask for His Divine Mercy, so confess to Him all your faults, sins and trouble. Then ASK for grace and help to overcome your faults, forgive your sins and assist you in trouble. Through the Holy Spirit, you will gain what you need.

Second Reading Hebrews 4:14-16

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, 
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin. 
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

The Sacred Heart's Friend: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Today is the feast day of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a humble French nun who lived from 1647 to 1690. Jesus revealed to her His Most Sacred Heart in a series of beautiful visions and implored for the world to know Him through His Love, which emanates from His Heart. Full trust in Jesus honors His Heart and Love for us.

Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary, "Look at this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you, My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth.”

The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His Sacred Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

I will establish peace in their families.

I will console them in all their troubles.

They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.

I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.

Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.

Tepid souls shall become fervent.

Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.

I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.

Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.

The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour. --From Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s vision of Jesus

The devotions attached to these promises:

Receiving Holy Communion frequently.

Observe First Fridays by going to confession and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of each month for nine consecutive months.

Making a Holy Hour of eucharistic adoration for one hour a week, namely on Thursdays.

Celebrating the feast of the Sacred Heart.

Saint Faustina's Feast Day

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska died at age 33 on October 5, 1938. She is known as "The Great Apostle of Divine Mercy" for her mission in encouraging devotion to God's greatest attribute: His Mercy. 

Her diary is a masterwork of faith, suffering and love all for Jesus and His Most Sacred Heart. His revelations to her resonate with everyone who reads the diary. 

One of the most powerful tools Jesus gave Saint Faustina was the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, which is especially important for the ill and dying. It can be said at any time, but Our Lord requested it be said at 3 p.m., the hour of His most holy death.

The Polish nun was declared a saint on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2000 by Pope John Paul II.

This prayer is from the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.

Prayer to Obtain Graces Through the Intercession of Saint Faustina

O Jesus, who filled Saint Faustina with profound veneration for Your boundless Mercy, deign, if it be Your holy will, to grant me, through her intercession, the grace for which I fervently pray…

My sins render me unworthy of Your Mercy, but be mindful of Saint Faustina's spirit of sacrifice and self-denial, and reward her virtue by granting the petition which, with childlike trust, I present to You through her intercession.

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be… 

Saint Faustina, pray for us.

Reparation Prayer for the First Saturday in October

O Most Holy Virgin and our Mother, we listen with grief to the complaints of your Immaculate Heart surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. 

Moved by the ardent desire of loving you as our Mother and of promoting a true devotion to your Immaculate Heart, we prostrate ourselves at your feet to prove the sorrow we feel for the grievance that men cause you, and to atone, by means of our prayers and sacrifices, for the offenses with which men return your tender love.

Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. A word from you will obtain grace and amendment for us all.

Hasten, O Lady, the conversion of sinners, that they may love Jesus and cease to offend the Lord, already so much offended, and will not fall into hell. Turn your eyes of mercy toward us, that henceforth we may love God with all our heart while on earth and enjoy Him forever in heaven. 

Amen.