Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

Mary: Mediatrix of Mercy 175 Secondly, and most especially in the twentieth century, it is also the laity who are called — not to consecrate, which is beyond their power — but to offer the already consecrated Eucharistic Jesus to the Father in reparation for sin. We do that for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, his Passion in Eucharistic form, as it already exists consecrated in the taber­ nacles of the world. The offering of the laity (in a way similar to the Sacrifice o f the Redeemer that is gained by the maternal and lay sacri­ fice o f the Co-redemptrix at Calvary) is not going to have the same spir­ itual efficacy as the priestly Sacrifice, but it will be a corollary, an asso­ ciation o f the priest and the laity offering the Eucharistic Jesus to the Father so that He will respond in Mercy rather than justice. In sum, it is a heavenly appeal for the offering o f the Eucharistic Lord in atonement and reparation for the sins o f the world, and an exercise of the priests and the laity in bringing to the Father the Passion and the Eucharistic presence o f his Son by all Christ’s faithful. We find another complementarity between the Triumph o f the Immaculate Heart and the Triumph o f Divine Mercy in many inspired Diary references o f Blessed Faustina to the Motherly Mediation of Mary in the order o f grace. Clearly manifest from the opening pages of the Diary , we have numerous revealed examples o f the salvific role of the Mediatrix o f Mercy. In Notebook I, no. 11, p. 7, it is the Mother o f God as Advocate who guides Sister Faustina to shelter: When I got off the train and saw that all were going their sep­ arate ways, I was overcome with fear. What am I to do? To whom should I turn, as I know no one? So I said to the Mother o f God, ‘Mary, lead me, guide me.’ Immediately I heard these words with­ in me telling me to leave the town and to go to a certain nearby vil­ lage where I would find a safe lodging for the night. I did so and found in fact that everything was just as the Mother o f God told me. Notebook I, no. 20, p. 11 refers to Our Lady’s Mediation o f grace to souls in purgatory: I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her T h e Star of the Sea.’ She brings them refreshment. The union o f human suffering with the suffering Heart o f the Co- redemptrix can be seen from Notebook I, no. 25, p. 14: