Pillars of Fire In My Soul

Judgment Day” (Diary §1317). 6 Jesus repeated His call four times: in revelations 36, 51, 52, and 58 (Diary §742, 1317, 1148, 1158), incorporating what He had said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:17). Explaining this demand, the Lord Jesus stressed that mercy of “spirit” has greater “merit” and added that if a person cannot show mercy by action, then let the per- son at least practice it in word. If he or she cannot practice it in word, let the person practice it by prayer, for everyone can always pray. The Lord Jesus expressed clearly that He wishes each devotee of Divine Mercy to perform each day at least one act of mercy toward one’s neighbor, through a good deed, a good word, or through prayer. In this way, the Devotion to Divine Mercy which Jesus wishes to spread through the medi- ation of Sister Faustina, cannot be artificial religiosity, but rather a deeply experienced form of the Christian religious life. The basic requirement of performing acts of mercy toward one’s neighbor is actually fulfilled by all the concrete forms of the Devotion to Divine Mercy. The Chaplet of Mercy was arranged in such a fashion by the Lord Jesus that it is an act of mercy toward neighbors, for Jesus instructs us to pray for mercy not only for ourselves or those close to us, but for the entire world. That is why, when He promises a happy death in God’s grace to those who trustingly and with humility of heart would say this Chaplet even once, He was not making an exception with regard to the basic requirement of mercy toward neighbors. Before we familiarize ourselves with the concrete forms of Devotion to Mercy, we should note that among the concrete forms we do not find commonly known novenas or litanies. Those who come in contact with the Devotion to the Divine Mercy for the first time most often inquire about novenas and litanies. In the Diary of Sister Helen Faustina we admittedly do find a very beautiful and profound novena to Divine Mercy which, according to Sister Helen Faustina’s accounts, was Essential Features of the Devotion to The Divine Mercy 105