O Christ, if my soul had known, all at once, what it was going to have to suffer during its lifetime, it would have died of terror at the very sight; it would not have touched its lips to the cup of bitterness. But as it has been given to drink a drop at a time, it has emptied the cup to the very bottom. O Christ, if You Yourself did not support the soul, how much could it do of itself? We are strong, but with Your strength; we are holy, but with Your holiness. And of ourselves, what are we? - less than nothing ... My Jesus, You suffice me for everything else in the world. Although the sufferings are severe, You sustain me. Although the times of loneliness are terrible, You make them sweet for me. Although the weakness is great, You change it into power for me. (Diary, 1655) Now I can be wholly useful to the Church by my personal sanctity, which throbs with life in the whole Church, for we all make up one organism in Jesus. That is why I endeavor to make the soil of my heart bear good fruit. Although the human eye may perhaps never see it, there will nevertheless come a day when it will become apparent that many souls have been fed and will continue to be fed with this fruit. (Diary, 1364) I strive for the greatest perfection possible in order to be useful to the Church. Greater by far is my bond to the Church. The sanctity or the fall of each individual soul has an effect upon the whole Church. Observing myself and those who are close to me, I have come to understand how great an influence I have on other souls, not by any heroic deeds, as these are striking in themselves, but by small actions like a movement of the hand, a look, and many other things too numerous to mention, which have an effect on and reflect in the souls of others, as I myself have noticed. (Diary, 1475) "It's only to save souls that I want to suffer." On the day of her death, she exclaimed: "Never would I have believed it was possible to suffer so much! Never, never! I can only explain it by the ardent desires I have had to save souls (see Bp. Guy Gaucher, The Passion of Thérèse Lisieux, p. 183-185) St. Faustina image: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/power-prayer-0 St. Therese and St. Faustina: Words of Love from True Sisters in Christ St. Therese of Lisieux Therese is the saint of Merciful Love. Faustina is the saint of Divine Mercy. But “Merciful Love” and “Divine Mercy" are really the same thing. So the two saints are closely related. More specifically, Therese pioneered the modern movement that is bringing Catholic spirituality back to a focus on God's mercy, and she passed the baton of that effort to Faustina. In fact, Therese once appeared to her Polish friend in a dream and encouraged her to trust in Jesus (see Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 150). During that same dream, Faustina asked her, "shall I be a saint as you are ...?" Therese responded, "Yes." Therese and Faustina are more "like" each other than most people realize. They're both totally dedicated to God's great mercy. : Excerpts from Why St. Therese:www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/why-st-therese Similarities in the Lives of St. Therese and St. Faustina: www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/similarities-lives-stth%C3%A9r%C3%A8se-and-st-faustina St. Therese image: www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/life-little-flower St. Faustina Kowalska -Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC
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