Pillars of Fire In My Soul

The sacrifice of blood, then, embodied the meaning of “offering one’s life” in obedience to God, trusting that He has our best interests at heart. That obedience is the surest sign of “devotion”, that “solid attachment” to our loving Creator- Father, that enables us to enjoy the inheritance He made possible for His creatures to share in union with His Only- begotten Son. 8. The booklet here presented in translation was one of the earliest popular pieces of literature to have been published on Sister Faustina and her mission. It was this statement made by Fr. Andrasz in the booklet that influenced various artists to paint their versions of the Merciful Christ of Sister Faustina’s vision as walking upon this our poor earth , and so with a background of fields, hills, trees and flowers — a background that is totally absent from the original image of The Divine Mercy that was painted under Sister Faustina’s personal direction. (See the “Appendix” to this essay below.) 9. This “soaring” expression of the author likewise influ- enced artists to paint Christ’s arm in the image of The Divine Mercy as raised high , which is contrary to Sister Faustina’s repeated insistence. This is attested to by her spiritual director, one of the very few persons to have heard the Sister give the directives to the artist, whom he himself found and commis- sioned to paint the original image. Fr. Sopocko claims that Sister Faustina insisted that the right hand, raised in blessing, should be depicted as not exceeding the height of the Lord’s shoulder (see the “Appendix” to this essay.) 10. This interpretation, interesting as it might be, cannot com- pare with the rich meaning that the white tunic evokes when seen from the point of view of the Bible against the background of texts like Leviticus 16: 23-24; Ezekiel 44: 18; John 19: 23b; Revelation 1: 13 — all of which point to the conclusion that the person so clothed is the Great High Priest of the New Covenant who, by His voluntary sacrifice of self for His beloved creatures, 70 Pillars of Fire in My Soul