Marian Helper Spring 2013

32 M ARIAN H ELPER • S PRING 2013 • www.marian.org I have grown in my trust in Jesus by ven- erating the image of Divine Mercy daily as well as by learning the message of Divine Mercy more deeply through belonging to a cenacle prayer group. Whenever I find myself worry- ing about anything, I go to the image and pray, “Jesus I trust in You.” I gaze upon Jesus for a while, tell Him my concern, and end again by praying, “Jesus, I Trust inYou.” I then leave it with Him as I do trust in Him. The most recent example that I would like to share is the loss of my brother Russell, who passed away of cancer on the Third Sunday of Advent in 2012. We lived 1,400 miles apart. So, on Saturday, Dec. 15, I decided to offer my Holy Hour for him by praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and venerating the image. Our Adoration chapel has a first-class relic of St. Faustina with a holy card. I recited the prayer on the card and asked St. Faustina to go to Russell’s bedside. I trusted in Jesus over this matter. Russell passed away the next day. Two days later at our cenacle, we read this passage from St. Faustina’s Diary : “My union with the dying is still as close as ever. Oh, how incomprehensible is God’s mercy that the Lord allows me, by my unworthy prayer, to come to the aid of the dying. I try to be at the side of every dying person whenever I can. Have confi- dence in God, for He is good and inconceivable. His mercy surpasses our understanding” (880). What a blessed consolation that was for me. T he first time I remember see- ing a holy card with the Divine Mercy image on it, I thought the picture looked strange. I surmised that the rays probably represented the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus, but why were they coming from His Heart after He had risen from the dead? It was praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and learning about the devotion that helped me to appreciate the image. We continue to offer the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ to the Father in the Eucharist, and the chaplet is another way of reminding ourselves of this reality. It is a prayer that is an “extension” of the Eucharist. I remember shortly after I started praying the chaplet, I found that praying it before the Divine Mercy image was ideal. Jesus wants us to venerate the image, and when we recite the prayers of the chaplet, we are asking for His rays of mercy to continue to shower down on the world. Although I didn’t think about it at first, I know that praying the chaplet before the image has greatly increased my trust in Jesus. The image, of course, includes the words, “Jesus, I trust in You.” As I began to pray these words, my pessimism lessened, and I didn’t worry as much about the future. Such an attitude of trust was important for me in the novitiate and seminary, which can have unexpected turns and challenges. Now, as I work with our men in formation, I face new challenges that lead me to say all the more, “Jesus, I trust in You.” Us Between by a Marian and a Helper ‘Jesus, I trust in You’ Fr. John Marian Fr. John Larson, MIC, is superior and postulant director at the Marian House of Studies in Steubenville, Ohio. He was ordained a priest in 2006. “Praying the chaplet before the image has greatly increased my trust in Jesus.” “Whenever I find myself worrying…, I go to the image and pray, ‘Jesus, I trust in You.’” Mary Nowe belongs to Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy. She facilitates the EADM cenacle that meets at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Mary Marian Helper Back to Index