Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

104 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel doubt that she, too, committed little sins from time to time,”70which she successfully strove to overcome. In fact, Faustina came to a horror of sin: “I would rather suffer a thousand hells than commit even the small­ est venial sin” (1016). And yet Faustina was, from her own testimony, capable of a conscious, radical identification with sinners. The suffering o f Christ makes God accessible to sinners as well. For Faustina, the majesty of Christ was too much, it was intimidating, but the Passion of Christ was not threatening, and it was thus that she came to understand “that the essence o f her intimacy with the Lord would depend on taking part in his Passion, and that it was precisely this which would be the core of her vocation.”71 Moreover, Jesus revealed to her that she best pleased Him by meditation on his Passion (267), a medita­ tion which leads to the cultivation of true humility. Faustina is told by Jesus that: “There is more merit to one hour o f meditation on my sorrowful Passion than there is to a whole year o f flagellation that draws blood” (369). Her sufferings for others, willingly taken on, often took the form of intercessory prayer, fueled by sacrifices. A publication of Faustina’s order describes her intercession thus: On Holy Thursday 1934, Sister Faustina offered herself for sinners through an Act o f Oblation, and on that account she was visited by a variety of sufferings that by their means she might help to save souls. It was Jesus who invited her to take this step: “I need your sufferings to save souls; know that your silent martyrdom in complete surrender to my will ushers many souls into heaven: and when it seems to you that the suffering is surpassing your strength, look into my wounds... The con­ sideration of my passion will help you to rise above every­ thing.”72 The importance of intercessory prayer and vicarious suffering is attested to in that Satan himself tries to oppose her prayer for others; the temptation is to pray for herself, not for sinners for, in one temptation, he assures her that she herself will be damned (1465). Faustina under­ stands that Satan so hated her because she was stealing souls from him; Jesus explicitly tells her that she is particularly hated by Satan “because you have snatched so many souls from his dominion” (412).