Divine Mercy Diary - Notebook 2 (Page 1 of 2)
Preface | Introduction
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Divine Mercy
In my soul

The Diary
of the Servant of God
Sister M. Faustina Kowalska

Perpetually Professed member
of the
Congregation of Sisters of
Our Lady of Mercy

NOTEBOOK II

Sr. Faustina, Diary
Notebook II

(1)
J.M.J.
The mercy of the Lord I will sing forever,
Before all the people I will sing it,
For it is God’s greatest attribute
And for us an unending miracle.

You gush forth from the Divine Trinity,
But from one single womb filled with love.
The mercy of the Lord will be revealed in the soul
In all its fullness, when the veil falls.

From the fountain of Your Mercy, O Lord,
Flows all happiness and life,
And thus, all creatures and the whole of creation
Sing out in ecstasy a song of mercy.

The bowels of God’s mercy are opened for us
Through the life of Jesus, stretched on the Cross.
O sinner, you must not doubt or despair,
But trust in mercy, for you also can become holy.

Two streams in the form of rays
Have gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus,
not for angels, nor cherubim, nor seraphim,
but for the salvation of sinful man.



(2)
J.M.J.
O will of God,
Be my love.
My Jesus, you know that of myself I would not have written a single letter, and if I do write, it is only because of a clear command of holy obedience.

God and Souls
S.M. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.
O Jesus, hidden God,
My heart perceives you
Though veils hide you;
You know that I love you.
Vilnius, November 24, 1935.
Notebook Two.


(3)
J.M.J
Blessed be God!
Oh Holy Trinity, in whom is contained the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, eternal joy, inconceivable depth of love, poured out upon all creatures an constituting their happiness, honor and glory be to Your holy name forever and ever. Amen.
When I consider Your greatness and beauty, O my God, I rejoice exceedingly that the Lord I serve is so great. With love and joy I carry out His will, and the more I come to know Him, the more I desire to love Him. I burn with the desire to love Him ever more and more.

(4) The 14th. This Thursday as we were having nocturnal adoration, at first I could not pray; a sort of dryness engulfed me. I could not meditate on Jesus’ sorrowful passion. So I lay prostrate and offered the most sorrowful passion of the Lord Jesus to the heavenly Father in reparation for the sins of all the world. When I got to my feet after this prayer and walked to my kneeler, I suddenly saw Jesus next to it. The Lord Jesus appeared as He was during the scourging. In His hands He was holding a white garment with which He clothed me and a cord with which He girded me, and He covered me with a red cloak like the one He was clothed with during His Passion and a veil of the same color, and He said to me: This is how you and your companions are going to be clothed, My life from birth to death on the Cross will be the rule for you. Fix your eyes upon Me and live according to what you see. I desire that you penetrate into My Spirit more deeply and understand that I am meek and humble of heart. On one occasion, I felt an urge to set to work and fulfill whatever God is demanding of me. I entered the chapel for a moment and heard a voice in my soul saying, Why are you afraid? Do you think that I will not have enough omnipotence to support you? At that moment, my soul felt extraordinary strength, and all the adversities that could befall me in carrying out God’s will seemed as nothing to me.

On Friday during Mass, when my soul was flooded with God’s happiness, I heard these words in my soul: My mercy has passed into souls through the divine-human Heart of Jesus as a ray from the sun passes through crystal. I felt in my heart and understood that every approach to God is brought about by Jesus, in Him and through Him.

On the evening of the last day [November 15] of the novena at Ostra Brama, after the singing of the litany, one of the priests exposed the Blessed Sacrament in the Monstrance. When he placed it on the altar, I immediately saw the infant Jesus, stretching out His little arms, first of all toward His Mother, who at that time had taken on a living appearance. When the Mother of God was speaking to me, Jesus stretched out His tiny hands toward the congregation. The Blessed Mother was telling me to accept all that God asked of me like a little child, without questioning; otherwise it would not be pleasing to God. At that moment, the infant Jesus vanished, and the Mother of God was again lifeless, and Her picture was the same as it had been before. But my soul was filled with great joy and gladness, and I said to the Lord, “do with me as You please; I am ready for everything, but You, O Lord, must not abandon me even for a moment.”


J.M.J.
Tot the Glory of the Holy Trinity. I asked Mother superior [Borga} to permit me to make a forty day fast, taking once a day a piece of bread and a glass of water. However, following the advice of my confessor [Father Sopocko] Mother superior did not agree to forty days, but to seven. “I cannot take you away from your duties completely, sister, because of the other sisters who might notice something, I give you my permission to devote yourself to prayer and to note down some of these things, but it will be very difficult for me to protect you as regards the fasting. Really, I can think of no solution to this,” and she said, “go now, sister, and perhaps some light will come to me.” On Sunday morning, I understood that when Mother superior assigned me as portress during mealtime, she was doing so with the thought of giving me the opportunity to fast. In the morning, I did not go to breakfast, but, a little while later, I went to Mother superior and asked her whether I had been assigned as portress in view of making it possible for me to fast unnoticed. Mother replied, “when I assigned you, sister, it was with this in mind.” I then saw that this was the same thought that I had had interiorly.

November 24, 1935. Sunday, first day. I went at once before the Blessed Sacrament and offered myself with Jesus, present in the Most Holy Sacrament, to the everlasting Father. Then I heard these words in my soul: Your purpose and that of your companions is to unite yourselves with Me as closely as possible; through love you will reconcile earth with heaven, you will soften the just anger of God, and you will plead for mercy for the world. I please in your care two pearls very precious to My Heart; these are the souls of priests and religious. You will pray particularly for them; their power will come from your diminishment. You will join prayers, fast, mortifications, labors and all sufferings to My prayer, fasting, mortification, labors and sufferings and then they will have power before my Father. After Holy Communion, I saw the Lord Jesus, who said these words to me: Today, penetrate into the spirit of My poverty and arrange everything in such a way that the most destitute will have no reason to envy you. I find pleasure, not in large buildings and magnificent structures, but in a pure and humble heart.

When I was by myself, I began to reflect on the spirit of poverty, I clearly saw that Jesus, although He is Lord of all things, possessed nothing. From a borrowed manger He went through life doing good to all, but himself having no place to lay His Head. And on the Cross, I see the summit of His poverty, for He does not even have a garment on himself. O Jesus, through You’re solemn vow of poverty I desire to become like You; poverty will be my mother. As exteriorly we should possess nothing and have nothing to dispose of as our own, so interiorly we should desire nothing. And in the Most Blessed Sacrament, how great is Your poverty! Has there ever been a soul as abandoned as You were on the Cross, Jesus? Chastity. There is no need to explain that this vow forbids all those things prohibited by the sixth and ninth commandments: deeds, thoughts, words, feelings… I understand that a solemn vow differs from a simple vow; I understand this in all its implications. While reflecting upon this, I heard these words in my soul: You are my spouse forever; your chastity should be greater than that of the Angels, for I call no angel to such intimacy as I do you. The smallest act of My spouse is of infinite value. A pure soul has inconceivable power before God.

Obedience. have come to do My Father’s will. I obeyed my Parents, I obeyed My tormentors and now I obey the Priests. I understand, O Jesus, the spirit of obedience and in what it consists. It includes not only external performance, but also the reason, the will and judgment. Obeying our superiors, we obey God. It makes no difference whether it is an angel or a man who, acting in God’s stead, gives me orders; I must always obey. I am not going to write much about the vows, they are clear and specific. I will rather put down a few general thoughts about this congregation.

General summary. There will never be splendid houses, but only a small church with a small community consisting of a few souls, not more then ten, plus two externs to look after the external affair of the community and the church. These two sisters will not wear the habit, but secular dress; they will take simple vows, and they will depend strictly on the superior who will be cloistered. They will share in all the spiritual benefits of the congregation. There must never be more then two and, preferably, only one. Each house will be independent of the others although they will be closely united by the rule, the vows and the spirit. In exceptional cases, however, a sister from one community may be transferred to another and also, if there is question of founding a new house, some sisters may be transferred if need be, from another house. Each house will depend on the local ordinary.

Each sister will have a separate cell, but life will be communal as regards prayer, meals and recreation. Each nun, after her profession, will no longer see the world, even through a grill, as this will be covered with a dark cloth, and even the conversations will be strictly limited. She will be as if dead, not understood by the world and not understanding the world. She is to stand between heaven and earth, begging God constantly for mercy on the world and that priests be empowered so that their words be not empty and that they, in their extraordinary dignity and so exposed to risks, might keep themselves completely stainless. Though these souls will not be numerous, they will be heroic souls. There will be no room for cowardly or effeminate souls.

There will be no distinction between the sisters, no mothers, no reverends, no venerables, but all will be equal, even though there might be great differences in their parentage. We know who Jesus was, and yet how He humbled himself and with whom He associated. Their habit will be like that worn by Jesus during His Passion; and they will not simply wear the robe [He wore]; they must also seal themselves with the marks He bore; suffering and scorn. Each one will strive for the greatest self-denial and have a love of humility, and she who will distinguish herself most in this latter virtue will be the one who is capable of leading the others.

As God has made us sharers in His mercy and even more than that, dispensers of that mercy, we should therefore have great love for each soul, beginning with the elect and ending with the soul that does not yet know God. By prayer and mortification, we will make our way to the most uncivilized countries, paving the way for the missionaries. We will bear in mind that a soldier on the front line cannot hold out long without support from the rear forces that do not actually take part in the fighting but provide for all his needs; and that such is the role or prayer, and that therefore each one of us is to be distinguished by an apostolic spirit.


In the evening when I was writing, I heard a voice in my cell which said, “do not leave this congregation; have mercy upon yourself, such great sufferings are in store for you.” When I looked into the direction of the voice, I saw nothing, and I continued to write. Suddenly I heard a noise and the words: “when you leave, we will destroy you. Do not torture us.” I glanced around and saw many ugly monsters. So I mentally made the sign of the cross and they disappeared immediately. How terribly ugly satan is! The poor damned souls that have to keep him company! Just the sight of him is more disgusting than all the torments of hell.

A short time later, I heard this voice in my soul: do not fear anything; nothing will happen to you against My will. After these words of the Lord, a strange power entered my soul. I rejoiced greatly that God is so good.

Postulancy. Age of admission; any person between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Firstly, the spirit with which the candidate is imbued and her character are to be taken into consideration, whether she has a strong will and the courage to follow in Jesus’ footsteps with joy and gladness, as God loves a cheerful giver. She must despise the world and herself. The lack of a dowry will never be an obstacle to admission. All formalities concerning the candidate must be clear, no complicated cases should be admitted.

Melancholy persons, those disposed to sadness, those suffering from contagious diseases, those of an unstable character and those who are inclined to be suspicious of others are not adaptable to the religious life and must not be admitted. Members should be selected with greatest care, as one ill-fitting member is enough to throw the whole convent into confusion.

The duration of the postulancy. The postulancy will last one year. During this time, the candidate should examine whether she is attracted to this type of life and whether it is suitable to her. The directress should also diligently consider whether or not the person in question is suitable for this type of life. After a year, if the postulant shows evidence of a stable will and an earnest desire to serve God, she should be admitted to the novitiate.
The novitiate is to last one year, without any interruption. At this time the novice should be taught about the virtues relating to the vows and about the importance of the vows. The directress should do her utmost to provide a solid formation. Let her train the novices in the practice of humility, because only a humble heart keeps the vows easily and experiences the great joys that God pours out upon the faithful soul.

The novices should not be burdened with duties that entail responsibilities, so that they may be free to devote themselves to heir own perfection. They are obliged to observe the rules and statutes strictly, as are the postulants.
After a year of novitiate, if the novice proves faithful, she may be admitted to make her profession for one year. This is to be repeated for three years. She may then be given duties of responsibility. However, she will still belong to the novitiate, and once a week she must attend conferences together with the novices, and she will spend the last six months entirely in the novitiate in order to prepare well for her solemn profession.

Meals. We will have no meat. Our meals shall be such that not even the poor will have any reason to envy us. Still, feast days may differ slightly from regular days. The sisters will eat three times a day. Fasts, especially the two great ones, will be observed strictly, according to the original spirit. The food should be the same for all the nuns without exception so that communal life may be kept pure. This refers not only to food but to clothing and the furnishing of cells as well. However, if a sister should fall ill, she should receive every consideration.
Prayers. One hour of meditation, Holy Mass and Holy communion, prayers, two examinations of conscience, office, rosary, spiritual reading, one hour of prayer during the night. As to the horarium, it is better to draw it up after we have begun to live this type of life.

Suddenly I heard these words in my soul: My daughter, I assure you of a permanent income on which you will live. Your duty will be to trust completely in My goodness, and My duty will be to give you all you need. I am making Myself dependent upon your trust: if your trust will be great, then My generousity will be without limit.

Work. As poor persons, the nuns themselves will do all the work in the convent. Each one should be glad when she is given some work which is humbling or which goes against her nature, as that will greatly help her interior formation. The superior will often change the sisters’ duties, and in this way help them to detach themselves completely from the little details to which woman have a great attachment. Truly, I often find it amusing to see with my own eyes souls who have forsaken really great things only to attach themselves to fiddle faddle; that is, trifles. Each sister, including even the superior, shall work in the kitchen for a month. Every one should take a turn at every chore which is to be done in the convent. And always and in everything, their intention should be pure. For every sort of mixed motive is displeasing to God. They should accuse themselves of all external transgressions, and ask the superior for a penance. They should do this in a spirit of humility.
They should love one another with a sublime love, with a pure love, seeing God’s likeness in every sister. Love should be the special characteristic of this little community, so they must not close up their hearts, but embrace the whole world, rendering mercy to every soul through prayer, according to their calling. If we live in this spirit of mercy, we ourselves will obtain mercy.


How great should each one’s love for the Church be! As a good child prays for the mother it loves, so also should every Christian soul pray for the Church, its mother. What then should be said of us religious who have especially committed ourselves to praying for the Church? How great then is our apostolate, hidden though it be. All our little daily nothings will be placed at the feet of the Lord Jesus as a propitiatory offering for the world; but in order that our offering may be pleasing to God, it must be freed of all natural attachments, and all it affections must be directed towards the Creator, loving all creatures in Him and according to His will; and, acting thus, each with a zealous spirit will bring joy to the Church.

In addition to the vows, I see one rule as most important. Although all the rules are important, I put this one in first place, and it is silence. Truly, if this rule were to be observed strictly, I would not worry about the others. Woman are very fond of talking, but the Holy Spirit does not speak to a soul that is distracted and garrulous. He speaks by His quiet inspirations to a soul that is recollected, to a soul that knows how to keep silence. If silence were strictly observed, there would not be any grumbling, bitterness, slandering, or gossip, and charity would not be tarnished. In a word, many wrongs would not be done. Silent lips are pure gold and bear witness to holiness within.

But I want to speak immediately of a second rule; that is, speech. Keeping silent when one ought to speak is an imperfection and sometimes even a sin. And so, let all the sisters take part in recreation, and the superior should not dispense them from this except for a matter of great importance. Recreation is an opportunity for getting to know one another. Let each sister speak her mind in all simplicity for the edification of the others and not in a spirit of superiority nor, God forbid, in a quarrelsome manner, for that would not be in keeping with perfection and the spirit of our vocation, which should be especially characterized by love. Twice a day, there will be a recreation of one half hour. But if a sister breaks silence outside that time, she must accurse herself before the superior at once and ask for a penance, and the superior should punish these offenses with public penances, or else she will answer for this before the Lord.

Enclosure. No one may enter the enclosure without the special permission of the Ordinary and under very special circumstances, such as the administration of the Sacraments to the ill in order to prepare them for death, and for the burial rites. There also many be need of letting in a workman to do some repairs, but for this a specific permission will be required. The door to the enclosure will always be locked and only the superior will have the key.
The use of the parlor. Non of the sisters will make use of the parlor without special permission of the superior, and the superior should not permit frequent visits. Those who have died to the world should not be going back to it, not even through conversations. But if the superior thinks it right to permit some sister to go to the parlor, let her observe the following directions. She herself should accompany the sister, and if she cannot do so, she should arrange to be replaced by a sister who will be bound to confidence and must not repeat what she has heard, but who is to inform the superior of everything. Conversations ought to be short, unless there is permission for extra time for the sake of the person who has come for the visit. However, the curtain is not to be drawn aside, except for very special cases, as for example when a mother or father urgently asks that this be done.

Letters. Every sister may write sealed letters to the ordinary to whom the house is subject. For any other letter, permission is required, and the sister shall hand the letter unsealed to the superior. The superior is to be guided by the spirit of love and prudence, and has the right to send of withhold the letter, in the light of whatever is for the greater glory of God. However, I would like very much that such communications be as rare as possible. Let us help people by prayer and mortification, and not by correspondence.

Confession. Both the regular and the extraordinary confessors for the community will be appointed by the ordinary [Bishop]. There will be one regular confessor, and he will hear the sisters confessions once a week. The extraordinary confessor will come once every three months, and each sister is obliged to see him, even if she makes no confession. The two confessors will hold their posts in the convent for three years. Then there will be a secret vote, and the superior will submit the results to the Ordinary. The confessor can be re-appointed for an additional three years and even a third three year term. The sisters will make their confession through a locked grille. The conferences to the community will also be given through a grille, covered with a dark curtain. The sisters will never talk among themselves about confession or the confessors, rather, let them pray fro them that God may give them the light to direct their souls.

Holy Communion. The sisters should never talk about who goes more and who goes less frequently to Holy Communion. They should refrain from passing judgment on this subject which does not concern them. All judgments in this matter belong exclusively to the confessor. The superior many speak to a sister, not to inquire whey she is not going to communion, but simply to make confession available to her. The superiors should never dare to enter into the domain of the sisters’ consciences. The superior many sometimes arrange that the community offer communion for a certain intention. Each sister should strive for the greatest purity of soul, so that she might receive the Divine Visitor every day.


On one occasion, when I entered the chapel, I saw the walls of a building in a stat of disrepair [a torn down building]. The windows were without panes, and the doors had only frames with no paneling. Then I heard these words in my soul: this is where the convent will be. I was a little disappointed that these ruins were to be the convent.

Thursday. I felt urged to undertake as soon as possible the task which the Lord was asking of me. While making my confession, I was holding to my own opinion over that of the confessor. At first, I did not realize this, but when I was making my Holy Hour I saw the Lord Jesus as He appears in the image, and He told me that I must repeat to my confessor and my superiors everything He says to me or asks of me… and do only what you receive permission to do. And he gave me to know how displeased He was with persons who are self-willed, and I recognized that I was one of these. I saw this shadow of self-will in myself, and I threw myself in the dust before His Majesty and, with a broken heart, begged His Pardon. But Jesus did not let me remain in this state for long. His divine gaze filled my heart with such joy that I have no words to express it. And Jesus gave me to know that I should ask Him more questions and seek His advice. Truly, how sweet is the look of my Lord; His eyes penetrate my soul to its most secret depths. My spirit communicates with God without any word being spoken. I am aware that He is living in me and I in Him.

All at once, I saw the image in some small chapel and at that moment I saw that the chapel became an enormous and beautiful temple. And in this temple I saw the Mother of God with the infant in Her arms. And a moment later, the infant Jesus disappeared from the arms of His Mother, and I saw the living image of Jesus Crucified. The Mother of God told me to do what She had done, that, even when joyful, I should always keep my eyes fixed on the cross, and She told me that the graces God was granting me were not for me alone, but for other souls as well.

When I see the infant Jesus during Holy Mass, it is not always the same; sometimes He is very joyous, and sometimes He is not even looking at the chapel. At present, He is often very joyful when our confessor [father Sopocko] offers Holy Mass, I was greatly surprised that the infant Jesus loves him so much. Sometimes I see him dressed in a colorful pinafore.

Before I came to Vilnius and met this confessor, I once saw a rather small church and near it, this congregation. The convent had twelve cells; each nun was to live separately. I saw the priest [father Sopocko] who was helping me to prepare the convent and whom I was to meet some years later, but whom I already knew from the vision. I saw how he was arranging everything in the convent with great care, assisted by another priest [probably father Wantuchowski] whom I have not yet met. I saw the iron grating, covered with a dark curtain, and the sisters did not go to the church. On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, during Holy Mass, I heard the rustling of garments and saw the most Holy Mother of God in a most beautiful radiance. Her white garment was girdled with a blue sash. She said to me: You give Me great joy when you adore the Holy Trinity for the graces and privileges which were accorded Me. And She immediately disappeared.

Penances and Mortification. Interior mortifications take the first place, but besides this, we must practice exterior mortifications, strictly determined, so that all can practice them. These are: on three days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, there will be a strict fast; each Friday, all the sisters – each one in her own cell – will take the discipline for the length of the recitation of Psalm 50 and all will do this at the same time; namely, three o’clock; and this will be offered for dying sinners. During the two great fasts, ember days and vigils, the food will consist of a piece of bread and some water, once a day.

Let each sister observe these mortifications which are prescribed for all. But if anyone desires to do something more, she should ask the superior for permission. One more general mortification: no sister is allowed to enter the cell of another without special permission from the superior, but the superior should sometimes unexpectedly enter the cells of the sisters, not in order to spy, but in the spirit of love and the responsibility which she has before God. None of the sisters will lock anything; the rule will be the general key for all.


One day, after Holy Communion, I suddenly saw the infant Jesus standing by my kneeler and holding on to it with His two little hands. Although He was but a little Child, my soul was filled with awe and fear, for I see in Him my Judge, my Lord, and my Creator, before whose holiness the angels tremor. At the same time, my soul was flooded with such unspeakable love that I thought I would die under its influence. I now see that Jesus first strengthens my soul and makes it capable of abiding with Him, for otherwise I would not be able to bear what I experience at such a moment.

Relationship of sisters with the superior. All the sisters should respect the superior, as the Lord Jesus himself, as I mentioned when speaking about the vow of obedience. They should behave toward her with childlike trust, and should never murmur or find fault with her commands, as this is very displeasing to God. Let each be guided by a spirit of faith in her relationship to superiors; let her ask with simplicity for all that she needs. God forbid that it ever happened or be repeated that any of the sisters would be a cause of sorrow or tears to the superior. Let each one know that as the fourth commandment obliges a child to honor its parents, in like manner is the religious bound to respect her superior. Only a bad religious would take the liberty of judging her superior. Let the sisters be sincere with the superior, telling her about everything and about their needs with childlike simplicity.

The sisters will address the superior thus: “with your leave, sister superior.” They shall never kiss her hand, but whenever they meet her in the corridor or enter her cell, they should say, “praised be Jesus Christ,” bowing their heads slightly.
They shall address each other as “sister” adding the proper name. Their relationship toward the superior should be marked by a spirit of faith and not by sentimentality or flattery, as these are unworthy of a religious and would degrade her very much. A religious should be as free as a queen, and will be such only when she lives in the spirit of faith. We should obey and respect the superior, not because she is good, holy or prudent, but solely because she represents God, and by obeying her we are obeying God Himself.

Relationship of the superior to the sisters. The superior should be distinguished by humility and love toward each sister without exception. She must not let herself be led by likes and dislikes, but by the spirit of Christ alone. Let her be aware that God will demand of her an account for each sister. She should not moralize to the sisters, but rather set them an example of profound humility and self-denial; this will be the most efficacious lesson she can give her subjects. She should be firm, but never harsh. She should be patient when bothered with the same questions. Even if she has to give the same answer a hundred times over, she should do so with equanimity. Let her strive to anticipate the sisters needs rather than wait till they ask for this or that, for people vary in disposition.

If the superior notices that a sister is sad or is suffering, she should try her very best to help and comfort her. She should pray much and ask for light in order to know how to deal with each sister, for each soul is a world of its own. God has various ways of communicating with souls, way that are often beyond our comprehension and notice. Therefore the superior should be careful not to hinder God’s action in a soul. She should never reprimand a sister when irritated; rather, reprimands should always be seasoned with encouragement. The person is to be helped to recognize and acknowledge her error, but she should not be crushed.

The superior should be outstanding for a love for her sisters which shows itself in actions. She should take upon herself all burdens so as to ease the burdens of the sisters. She should not demand any services from them, but should respect them as brides of Jesus and be always ready to serve them, day and night. Let her ask rather than order. Her heart should be open to the sufferings of the sisters, and she herself should look closely at, and learn from, the open book, namely, Jesus Crucified. Let her pray fervently for light, especially when she had some important dealing with a sister. She should be on her guard lest she interfere with the sister’ consciences, for only a priest has this grace. But it may happen that a sister may feel the necessity to pour out her soul to the superior, in which case the superior may listen to this outpouring, but she is bound to secrecy, as nothing hurts a person so much as she has said in confidence or in secret talking about with others. Woman usually have weak heads in this respect; it is rarely that one finds a woman with a man’s mind. The superior should strive for deep union with God, and God will govern through her. The most holy Mother will be the superioress of the convent, and we shall be Her faithful daughters.

December 15, 1935. From early morning, today, a strange power has been pushing me to action, not giving me a moment’s peace. A strange ardor has been lit in my heart, urging me to action, and I cannot stop it. This is a secret martyrdom known only to God, but let Him do with me as He pleases; my heart is ready for anything. O Jesus, my dearest Master, do not abandon me, not even for a moment. Jesus, You know well how weak I am of myself; that is way I know that it is my weakness that forces You to be with me constantly.

On one occasion, I saw Jesus in a bright garment; this was in the greenhouse. [He said to me,] Write what I say to you. My delight is to be united with you. With great desire, I wait and long for the time when I shall take up My residence sacramentally in your convent. My Spirit will rest in that convent and I will bless its neighborhood in a special way. Out of love for you all, I will avert any punishments which are rightly meted out by My Father’s justice. My daughter, I have inclined My Heart to your requests. Your assignment and duty here on earth is to beg for mercy for the whole world. No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My Mercy, and this is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, priests are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy. I am making you the administrator of My mercy. Tell the confessor that the Image is to be on view in the church and not within the enclosure in that convent. By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it.
O my Jesus, Eternal Truth, I fear nothing, neither hardships not sufferings; I fear only one thing, and that is to offend You. My Jesus, I would rather not exist than make you sad. Jesus, You know that my love knows no one but You. My soul is absorbed in You.
Oh, how great should be the ardor of every soul who will live in that convent, since God desires to come and live with us! Let everyone remember that if we religious do not intercede before God, who will? Each of us should burn like a pure sacrifice before the majesty of God, but to be pleasing to God, each one soul unite herself closely to Jesus. It is only with Him, in Him and through Him that we can be pleasing to God.


December 21, 1935. One day my confessor [father Sopocko] told me to go and look at a certain house to see whether it was the same house I had seen in my vision. When I went with my confessor to see that house, or rather those ruins, at a glance I recognized that they were the same as I had seen in my vision. The moment I touched the boards which had been nailed together in place of the doors, a strength pervaded my soul like a flash, giving me unshakable certitude. I went away quickly from that place, my heart full of joy, for it seemed to me that there was a certain force chaining me to that place.

I am very happy with what I saw in the vision. When the confessor spoke to me about the arrangement of the cells and other things, I recognized everything to be the same as had been told to me by Jesus. I am delighted that God is acting in this way through my confessor, but I am not surprised that God is giving him so much light; since God, who is Light itself, lives in a pure and humble heart, and all sufferings and adversities serve but to reveal the soul’s holiness. When I returned home, I went immediately to our chapel to rest a while. Then suddenly I heard these words in my soul: Do not fear anything. I am with you. These matters are in My hands and I will bring them to fruition according to My mercy, for nothing can oppose My will.

Christmas Eve 1935.
From early morning, my spirit was immersed in God. His presence pervaded my whole being. In the evening, before supper, I went to the chapel for a minute to share the wafer, at the feet of Jesus, with those who are far away and whom Jesus loves greatly and to whom I owe so much. Just as I was spiritually sharing the wafer with a certain person [probably father Sopocko], I heard these words within me: His heart is for Me a heaven on earth. When I was leaving the chapel, in an instant, God’s omnipotence enveloped me. I understood how greatly God loves us. Oh, if people could at least partly comprehend and understand this!

Christmas day.
Midnight Mass. During Holy Mass, I again saw the little infant Jesus, extremely beautiful, joyfully stretching our His little arms to me. After Holy Communion, I heard the words: I am always in your heart; not only when you receive Me in Holy Communion, but always. I spent these holydays in great joy.

Oh Holy Trinity, Eternal God, my spirit is drowned in Your beauty. The ages are as nothing in Your sight. You are as nothing in Your sight. You are always the same. Oh, how great is Your majesty. Jesus, why do You conceal Your majesty, why have You left Your heavenly throne and dwelt among us? The Lord answered me, My daughter, love has brought Me here, and love keeps Me here. My daughter, if you knew what great merit and reward is earned by one act of pure love for Me, you would die of joy. I am saying this that you may constantly unite yourself with Me through love, for this is the goal of the life of your soul. This act is an act of the will. Know that a pure soul is humble. When you lower and empty yourself before My majesty, I then pursue you with My graces and make use of My omnipotence to exalt you.

Once, when my confessor told me to say “Glory be to the Father” as my penance, it took me a very long time; and I began many times, but did not finish, because my spirit became united with God, and I could not stick to the prayer. Quite frequently, I am unwittingly enveloped by God’s omnipotence and become entirely plunged in Him through love, and then I do not know what is going on around me. When I told my confessor that this short prayer often takes very much of my time and that sometimes I cannot even finish it, he told me to say it right away, there, at the confessional. However, my spirit became immersed in God and, in spite of my efforts, I could not think as I wished. And so the confessor said, “Please repeat after me.” I repeated every word, but while I was pronouncing each word, my spirit would be steeped in the Person I was naming.

On one occasion, Jesus told me, concerning a certain priest [probably Father Sopocko], that these present years would be the adornment of his priestly life. The days of suffering always seem longer, but they too will pass, though they pass so slowly that it seems they are moving backwards. However, their end is near, and then will come endless and inconceivable joy. Eternity! Who can understand this one word which comes from You, O incomprehensible God, this one word: eternity!
I know that the graces given me by God are often meant exclusively for certain souls. Awareness of this fills me with great joy; I always rejoice at the good of other souls as if it were my own.


On a certain occasion. The Lord said to me, I am more deeply wounded by the small imperfections of chosen souls than by the sins of those living in the world. It made me very sad that chosen souls make Jesus suffer, and Jesus told me, these little imperfections are not all. I will reveal to you a secret of My Heart: what I suffer from chosen souls. Ingratitude in return for so many graces is My Heart’s constant food, on the part of [such] a chosen soul. Their love is lukewarm, and My Heart cannot bear it; these souls force Me to reject them. Others distrust My goodness and have no desire to experience that sweet intimacy in their own hearts, but go in search of Me, off in the distance, and do not find Me. This distrust of My goodness hurts Me very much. If My death has not convinced you of My love, what will? Often a soul wounds Me mortally, and then no one can comfort Me. They use My graces to offend Me. There are souls who despise My graces as well as all the proofs of My love. They do not wish to hear My call, but proceed into the abyss of hell. The loss of these souls plunges Me into deadly sorrow. God though I am, I cannot help such a soul because it scorns Me; having a free will, it can spurn Me or love Me. You, who are the dispenser of My mercy, tell all the world about My goodness, and thus you will comfort My Heart. It will tell you when you converse with Me in the depths of your heart. Here, no one can disturb My actions. Here, I rest as in a garden enclosed.

The interior of my soul is like a large and magnificent world in which God and I live. Except for God, no one is allowed there. At the beginning of this life with God, I was dazzled and overcome with awe. His radiance blinded me, and I thought He was not in my heart; and yet those were the moments when God was working in my soul. Love was becoming purer and stronger, and the Lord brought my will into the closest union with His own holy will. No one will understand what I experience in that splendid place of my soul where I abide constantly with my Beloved. No exterior thing hinders my union with God. Even if I used the most forceful words, they would not express even a shadow of how my soul revels in happiness and inexplicable love, as great and pure as the spring from which it flows; that is, God Himself. My spirit is so pervaded with God that I feel it physically, and the body partakes of these joys. Although it happens that God’s touches vary in the same soul, they come, however, from the same source.

On one occasion, I saw Jesus thirsting and fainting, and He said to me, I thirst. When I gave Him water, He took it, but did not drink and immediately disappeared. He was clothed as He was during His Passion.
When you reflect upon what I tell you in the depths of your heart, you profit more than if you had read many books. Oh, if souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time.

January 8, 1936. When I went to see the Archbishop [Jalbrzykowski] I told him that Jesus was asking that I pray for God’s mercy upon the world and that there be a religious congregation which would entreat the mercy of God for the world. I asked his permission for all the Lord Jesus was demanding of me. The Archbishop answered me in these words: “as for prayer, I give you my permission and even encourage you, sister, to pray as much as possible for the world and to beg God’s mercy, as mercy is what we all need; and I presume that your confessor certainly does not forbid you to pray for this intention. But as regards this congregation, wait a while, sister, so that all things may arrange themselves more favorably. This thing is good in itself, but there is no need to hurry. If it is God’s will, it will be done, whether it be a little sooner or a little later. Why shouldn’t it be? There are so many different kinds of congregations; this one too will come to be if God so wills. Be completely at peace. The Lord Jesus can do all things. Strive for a close union with God and do not lose heart.” These words filled me with great joy.

When I left the Archbishop’s house, I heard the following words in my soul: to confirm your spirit, I speak through My representatives in accordance with what I demand of you, but know that this will not always be so. They will oppose you in many things, and through this My grace will be manifest in you, and it will be evident that this matter is My doing. But as for you, fear nothing; I am always with you. And know this, too, My daughter: all creatures, whether they know it or not, and whether they want to or not, always fulfill My will.

Once, I suddenly saw Jesus in great majesty, and He spoke these words to me: My daughter, if you wish, I will this instant create a new world, more beautiful than this one, and you will live there for the rest of your life. I don’t want any worlds, I want You, Jesus. I want to love You, with the same love that you have for me. I beg You for only one thing: to make my heart capable of loving you. I am very much surprised at Your offer, my Jesus, what are those worlds to me? Even if you gave me a thousand of them, what are they to me? You know very well, Jesus, that my heart is dying of longing for You. Everything that is not You is nothing to me.” At that moment, I could no longer see anything, but a strange fire sprang up in my heart, and I entered into a kind of agony for Him. Then I heard these words: with no other soul do I unite myself as closely and in such a way as I do with you, and this because of the deep humility and ardent love which you have for Me.

On one occasion, I heard these words within me: every movement of your heart is known to Me. Know, My daughter, that one glance of yours directed at someone else would wound Me more than many sins committed by another person.


Love cast out fear. Since I came to love God with my whole being and with all the strength of my heart, fear has left me. Even if I were to hear the most terrifying things about God’s justice, I would not fear Him at all, because I have come to know Him well. God is love, and His Spirit is peace. I see now that my deeds which have flowed from love are more perfect than those which I have done out of fear: I have placed my trust in God and fear nothing. I have given myself over to His Holy Will; let Him do with me as He wishes, and I will still love Him.

When I receive Holy Communion, I entreat and beg the Savior to heal my tongue, that I may never fail in love of neighbor.

Jesus, You know how ardently I desire to hide so that no one may know me but Your sweetest Heart. I want to be a tiny violet, hidden in the grass, unknown in a magnificent garden in which beautiful lilies and roses grow. The beautiful rose and the lovely lily can be seen from afar, but in order to see a little violet, one has to bend low; only its scent gives it away. Oh, how happy I am to be able to hide myself in this way! O my divine Bridegroom, the flower of my heart and the scent of my pure love are for You. My soul has drowned itself in You, Eternal God. From the moment when You yourself drew me to yourself, O my Jesus, the more I have known You, the more ardently I have desired You.

I learned in the Heart of Jesus that in heaven itself there is a heaven to which not all, but only chosen souls, have access. Incomprehensible is the happiness in which the soul will be immersed. O my God, oh, that I could describe this. Even in some little degree. Souls are penetrated by His divinity and pass from brightness to brightness, an unchangeable light, but never monotonous, always new though never changing. O Holy Trinity, make yourself known to souls!

O my Jesus, nothing is better for the soul than humiliations. In contempt is the secret of happiness, when the soul recognizes that, of itself, it is only wretchedness and nothingness, and that whatever it possesses of good is a gift of God. When the soul sees that everything is given it freely and that the only thing it has of itself is its own misery, this is what sustains it in a continual act of humble prostration before the majesty of God. And God, seeing the soul in such a disposition, pursues it with His graces. As the soul continues to immerse itself more deeply into the abyss of its nothingness and need, God uses His omnipotence to exalt it. If there is a truly happy soul upon earth, it can only be a truly humble soul. At first, one’s self-love suffers greatly on this account, but after a soul has struggled courageously, God grants it much light by which it sees how wretched and full of deception everything is. God alone is in its heart. A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God. God defends the humble soul and lets Himself into its secrets, and the soul abides in unsurpassable happiness which no one can comprehend.

One evening, one of the deceased sisters, who had already visited me a few times, appeared to me. The first time I had seen her, she had been in great suffering, and then gradually these sufferings had diminished; this time she was radiant with happiness, and she told me that she was already in heaven. She told me that God had tried our house with tribulation because Mother General [Michael] had given in to doubts, not believing what I had said about this soul. And further, as a sign that she only now was in heaven, God would bless our house. Then she came closer to me, embraced me sincerely and said, “I must go now.” I understood how closely the three stages of a soul’s life are bound together; that is to say, life on earth, in purgatory and in heaven [the communion of Saints].

I have noticed many times that God tries certain people on account of those things about which He spoke to me, for mistrust displeases Jesus. Once, when I saw that God had tried a certain Archbishop [Jalbrzykowski] because he was opposed to the cause and distrustful of it, I felt sorry for him and pleaded with God for him, and God relieved his suffering. God is very displeased with lack of trust in Him, and this is why some souls lose many graces. Distrust hurts His most sweet Heart, which is full of goodness and incomprehensible love for us. A priest should sometimes be distrustful in order to better ascertain the genuineness of gifts bestowed on a given soul; and when he does so in order to direct the soul to deeper union with God, his will be a great and incomprehensible reward indeed. But there is a great difference between this and disrespect and distrust of divine graces in a soul simply because on cannot comprehend and penetrate these things with one’s mind, and this latter is displeasing to the Lord. I greatly pity souls who encounter inexperienced priests.

Once, a certain priest [father Sopocko] asked me to pray for him. I promised to pray, and asked for a mortification. When I received permission for a certain mortification, I felt a great desire to give up all the graces that God’s goodness would intend for me that day in favor of that priest, and I asked the Lord Jesus to deign to bestow on me all the sufferings and afflictions, both exterior and spiritual, that the priest would have had to suffer during that day. God partially answered my request and, at once, all sorts of difficulties and adversities sprang up out of nowhere, so much so that one of the sisters remarked out loud that the Lord Jesus must have a hand in this because everyone was trying sister Faustina. The charges made were so groundless that what some sisters put forward, others denied, while I offered all this in silence on behalf of the priest.

But that was not all; I began to experience interior sufferings. First, I was seized by depression and aversion toward the sisters, then a kind of uncertainty began to trouble me. I could not recollect myself during prayer, and various things would take hold of my mind. When, tired out, I entered the chapel, a strange pain seized my soul, and I began to weep softly. Then I heard in my soul a voice, saying, My daughter, why are you weeping? After al, you yourself offered to undertake these sufferings. Know that what you have taken upon yourself for that soul is only a small portion. He is suffering much more. And I asked the Lord, “why are you treating him like that?” the lord answered me that it was for the triple crown meant for him: that of virginity, the priesthood and martyrdom. At that moment a great joy flooded my soul at the sight of the great glory that is going to be his in heaven. Right away I said the Te Deum for this special grace of God; namely, of learning how God treats those He intends to have close to himself. Thus, all sufferings are noting in comparison with what awaits us in heaven.


One day, after our Mass, I suddenly saw my confessor [father Sopocko] saying Mass in Saint Michael’s Church, in front of the picture of the Mother of God. It was at the time of the Offertory, and I saw the infant Jesus clinging to him as if fleeing from something and seeking refuge in him. But when the time came for Holy Communion, He disappeared as usual. Suddenly, I saw the Blessed Mother, who shielded him with Her cloak and said, Courage, My son, courage. She said something else which I could not hear.

Oh, how ardently I desire that every soul would praise Your mercy. Happy is the soul that calls upon the mercy of the Lord. It will see that the Lord will defend it as His glory, as He said. And who would dare fight against God? All you souls, praise the Lord’s mercy by trusting in His mercy all your life and especially at the hour of our death. And fear nothing, dear soul, whoever you are; the greater the sinner, the greater his right to Your mercy, o Lord. O incomprehensible goodness! God is the first to stoop to the sinner. O Jesus, I wish to glorify Your mercy on behalf of thousands of souls. I know very well, O my Jesus, that I am to keep telling souls about your goodness, about Your incomprehensible mercy.

On one occasion, after a person had asked me for prayer, when I met the Lord I said to Him, “Jesus, I especially love those souls whom You love.” And Jesus answered, and as for Me, I bestow special graces on those souls for whom you intercede.
How wondrously Jesus defends me; truly this is a great grace of God which I have experienced for a long time now.

Once, when one of our sisters became fatally ill and all the community was gathered together, there was also a priest there who gave the sister absolution. Suddenly, I saw many spirits of darkness. Then, forgetting that I was with the sisters, I seized the holy water sprinkler and sprinkled the spirits, and they disappeared at once. However, when the sisters came to the refectory, Mother superior [Borgia] remarked that I should not have sprinkled the sick sister in the presence of the priest, as this was hi duty. I accepted the admonition in the spirit of penance, but holy water is indeed a great help to the dying.
My Jesus, you see how weak I am of myself. Therefore, You yourself direct my affairs. And know, Jesus, that without you I will not budge for any cause, but with You I will take on the most difficult things.

January 29, 1936. In the evening, when I was in my cell, I suddenly saw a great light and a dark gray cross high up within the light. Suddenly, I found myself caught up close to the cross. I gazed at it intently, but could not understand anything, and so I prayed, asking what it could man. At that moment I saw the Lord Jesus, and the cross disappeared. The Lord Jesus was sitting in a great light, and His legs, up to the knees, where drowned in the light so that I could not see them. Jesus bent toward me, looked at me kindly and spoke to me about the will of the Heavenly Father. He told me that the most perfect and holy soul is the one that does the will of the Father, but there are not many such, and that He looks with special love upon the soul who lives His will. And Jesus told me that I was doing the will of God perfectly… and for this reason I am uniting myself with you and coming with you in a special and intimate way. God embraces with His incomprehensible love the soul who lives by His will. I understood how much God loves us, how simple He is, though incomprehensible, and how easy it is to commune with Him, despite His great majesty. With no one do I feel as free and as much at ease as with Him. Even a mother and her truly loving child do not understand each other so well as God and I do. When I was in that state of communion with God, I saw two particular persons, and their sad interior condition was revealed to me. They were in a sorrowful state, but I trust that they too, will glorify the mercy of God.

At the same time, I saw a certain person [father Sopocko] and, in part, the condition of his soul and the ordeals God was sending him. His sufferings were of the mind and in a form so acute that I pitied him and said to the Lord, “why do you treat him like that?” and the Lord answered, for the sake of his triple crown. and the Lord also gave me to understand what unimaginable glory awaits the person who resembles the suffering Jesus here on earth. That person will resemble Jesus in His glory. The Heavenly Father will recognize and glorify our soul to the extent that He sees in us a resemblance to His Son. I understood that this assimilation into Jesus is granted to us while we are here on earth. I see pure and innocent souls upon whom God has exercised His justice; these souls are the victims who sustain the world and who fill up what is lacking in the Passion of Jesus. They are not many in number. I rejoice greatly that God has allowed me to know such souls.

O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, I thank You for allowing me to know the greatness and the various degrees of glory to which souls attain. Oh, what a great difference of depth in the knowledge of God there is between one degree and another! Oh, if people could only know this! O my God, if I were thereby able to attain one more degree, I would gladly suffer all the torments of the martyrs put together. Truly, all those torments seem as nothing to me compared with the glory that is awaiting us for all eternity. O Lord, immerse my soul in the ocean of Your divinity and grant me the grace of knowing you; for the better I know you, the more I desire You, and the more my love for you grows. If feel in my soul an unfathomable abyss which only God can fill. I lose myself in Him as a drop does in the ocean. The Lord has inclined himself to my misery like a ray of the sun upon a barren and rocky desert. And yet, under the influence of His rays, my soul has become a beautiful garden for His repose.

My Jesus, despite Your graces, I see and feel all my misery. I begin my day with battle and end it with battle. As soon as I conquer one obstacle, ten more appear to take its place. But I am not worried, because I now that this is the time of struggle, not peace. When the burden of the battle becomes too much for me, I throw myself like a child into the arms of the heavenly Father and trust I will not perish. O my Jesus, how prone I am to evil, and this forces me to be constantly vigilant. But I do not lose heart. I trust God’s grace, which abounds in the worst misery.
In the midst of the worst difficulties and adversities, I do not lose inner peace or exterior balance, and this discourages my adversaries. Patience in adversity gives power to the soul.


February 2, 1936. in the morning when the bell awoke me, I was so overcome by drowsiness which I could not shake off that I jumped into cold water, and after two minutes the sleepiness left me. When I came to meditation a host of absurd thoughts swarmed into my head, so much so that I had to struggle throughout the whole meditation. It was the same during prayer time, but when Mass began, a strange silence and joy filled my heart. Just then, I saw Our Lady with the infant Jesus, and the Holy Old Man [St. Joseph] standing behind them. The most Holy Mother said to me, Take My dearest Treasure, and She handed me the infant Jesus. When I tool the infant Jesus in my arms, the Mother Of God and Saint Joseph disappeared. I was left alone with the infant Jesus. I said to Him, “I know that You are my Lord and Creator even though You are so tiny.” Jesus stretched His little arms out to me and looked at me with a smile. My spirit was filled with incomparable joy. Then suddenly Jesus disappeared, and it was time for Holy Communion. I went with the other sisters to the Holy Table, my soul deeply moved. After Holy Communion, I heard these words in my soul: I am in your heart, I whom you had in your arms. I then pleaded with Jesus for a certain soul [father Sopocko], asking the Lord to grant him the grace to fight, and to take this trial from him. As you ask, so shall it be, but his merit will not be lessened. Joy reigned in my soul that God is so good and merciful; God grants everything that we ask of Him with trust.

After each conversation with the Lord, my soul is extraordinarily strengthened, and a profound tranquility prevails therein and gives me such courage that I do not fear anything in the world, but fear only lest I make Jesus sad.

O my Jesus, I implore You by the goodness of Your most sweet Heart, let your anger diminish and show us Your mercy. May your wounds be our shield against Your Father’s justice. I have come to know you, O God as the source of great mercy that vivifies and nourishes every soul. Oh, how great is the mercy of the Lord; it surpasses all His other qualities! Mercy is the greatest attribute of God; everything that surrounds me speaks to me of this. Mercy is the life of souls; His compassion is inexhaustible. O Lord, look on us and deal with us according to Your countless mercies, according to Your great mercy.

One time, I was in doubt as to whether what had happened to me had seriously offended the Lord Jesus or not. As I could not solve this doubt, I made up my mind not to go to Communion before first going to confession, although I immediately made an act of contrition, as it is my habit to ask for forgiveness after the slightest transgression. During those days when I did not receive Holy Communion, I did not feel the presence of God. This caused me unspeakable pain, but I took it as a punishment for sin. However, at the time of Holy Confession I was reproached for not going to Holy Communion, because what had happened to me was not an obstacle to receiving Holy Communion, and I saw the Lord Jesus who said to me, know, My daughter, that you caused me more sorrow by not uniting yourself with Me in Holy Communion than you did by that small transgression.

One day, I saw a small chapel in which six sisters were receiving Holy Communion from our confessor [father Sopocko] who was wearing a surplice and stole. There were no decorations and no kneelers in the chapel. After Holy Communion, I saw the Lord Jesus as He is represented in the image. Jesus was walking away, and I called to Him, “how can you pass me by and not say anything to me, Lord?” without You, I shall do nothing; you must stay with me and bless me, and this community and my country as well.” Jesus made the sign of the cross and said, do not fear anything; I am always with you.

On the last two days before Lent we had an hour of propitiatory adoration with the girls. During both hours I saw the Lord Jesus as He was after the scourging. My soul felt such great pain that it seemed to me that I was experiencing all those torments in my own body and in my own soul.

March 1, 1936. Today during Holy Mass I experienced a strange force and urge to start realizing God’s wishes. I had such a clear understanding of the things the Lord was asking of me that truly if I were to say that I do not understand what God is demanding from me, I would be lying, because the Lord is making His will known to me so clearly and distinctly that I do not have the least shadow of a doubt about them. I realized that it would be the greatest ingratitude to delay any longer this undertaking which the Lord wishes to bring to fulfillment for His glory and the benefit of a great number of souls. And He is using me as a miserable tool through which to realize His eternal plans of mercy. Truly, how ungrateful my soul would be to resist God’s will any longer. Nothing will stop me any longer, be it persecution, sufferings, sneers, threats, entreaties, hunger, cold, flattery, friendships, adversities, friends or enemies; be it things I am experiencing now or things that will come in the future or even the hatred of hell – nothing will deter me from doing the will of God.

I am not counting on my own strength, but on His omnipotence for, as he gave me the grace of knowing His holy will, He will also grant me the grace of fulfilling it. I cannot fail to mention how much my own lower nature resists this thing, manifesting its own desires, and there results within my soul a great struggle, like that of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. And so I too cry out to God, the Eternal Father, “if it is possible, take this cup from me, but, nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done, O Lord; may Your will be done.” What I am about to go through is no secret to me, but with full knowledge I accept whatever You send me, O Lord. I trust in You, O merciful God, and I wish to be the first to manifest to You that confidence which You demand of souls. O Eternal Truth, help me and enlighten me along the roadways of life, and grant that Your will be accomplished in me.

My God, I desire nothing but the fulfillment of Your will. It does not matter whether it will be easy or difficult. If feel an extraordinary force driving me to action. One thing alone holds me back, and that is holy obedience. O my Jesus, you urge me on the one hand and hold me back and restrain me on the other. In this, too, O my Jesus, may your holy will be done.

I continued in this state, without a break, for many days. My physical strength declined, and though I did not speak to anyone about it, nevertheless Mother superior [Borgia] noticed my pain and remarked that I had changed in appearance and was very pale. She told me to go to bed earlier and to sleep longer, and she had a cup of hot milk brought to me in the evening. She had a motherly heart, full of care, and tried to help me. But in the case of spiritual sufferings external things have no influence, and they do not bring much relief. It was from the confessional that I drew my strength and the consolation of knowing that it would not be long before I could begin to act.


On Thursday, when I went to my cell, I saw over me the Sacred Host in great brightness. Then I heard a voice that seemed to be coming from above the Host: in the Host is your power; it will defend you. After these words, the vision disappeared, but a strange power entered my soul, and a strange light as to what our love for God consists in; namely, in doing His will.
O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, I want to shine in the crown of Your mercy as a tiny gem whose beauty depends on the ray of Your light and or Your inscrutable mercy. All that is beautiful in my soul is Yours, O God; of myself I am ever nothing.

At the beginning of Lent, I asked my confessor for some mortification for this time of fast. I was told to cut down on my food but, while eating, to meditate on how the Lord Jesus, on the Cross, accepted vinegar and gall. This would be my mortification. I did not know that this would be so beneficial to my soul. The benefit is that I am meditating constantly on His sorrowful Passion and so, while I am eating, I am not preoccupied with what I am eating, but am reflecting on my Lord’s death.

At the beginning of Lent, I also asked to have the subject of my particular exam changed, and I was told to do everything with the pure intention of reparation for poor sinners. This keeps me in continual union with God, and this intention perfects my actions, because everything I do is done for immortal souls. All hardships and fatigue are as nothing when I think that they reconcile sinful souls with God. Mary is my instructress, who is ever teaching me how to live for God. My spirit brightens up in your gentleness and Your humility, O Mary.

On one occasion, when I dropped by the chapel for a five-minute adoration and was praying for a certain soul, I came to understand that God does not always accept our petitions for the souls we have in mind, but directs these to other souls. Hence, although we do not relieve the shouls we intended to relieve in their purgatorial suffering, still our prayer is not lost.

Intimate communion of a soul with God. God approaches a soul in a special way known only to himself and to the soul. No one perceives this mysterious union. Love presides in this union, and everything is achieved by love alone. Jesus gives himself to the soul in a gentle and sweet manner, and in His depths there is peace. He grants the soul many graces and makes it capable of sharing His eternal thoughts. And frequently, He reveals to it His divine plans.

Father Andrasz told me that it would be a good thing to have in God’s church a group of souls who would beg for His mercy, because in fact we are all in need of that mercy. After these words, an extraordinary light filled my soul. Oh, how good is the Lord!

March 18, 1936. once, I asked the Lord Jesus to take the first step by bringing about some change or some external event, or by letting them expel me, as I found it impossible to leave the Congregation on my own initiative. And I was in an agony over this for more than three hours. I could not pray, but kept submitting my will to the will of God.

The next morning, Mother superior [Borgia] told met that Mother General [Michael] was transferring me to Warsaw. I answered Mother that perhaps I should not go but leave the [congregation] directly from here. I regarded this to be the external sign for which I had been asking God. Mother superior made no reply, but after some time she called me again and said, “You know what, sister, go anyway and don’t worry about wasting a trip, even if you should return immediately.” I answered, “all right, I will go,” although my heart was seized with pain because I knew that by this trip this matter would be delayed. However, I try always to be obedient, despite everything.

In the evening, when I was praying, the Mother of God told me, Your lives must be like Mine: quiet and hidden, in unceasing union with God, pleading for humanity and preparing the world for the second coming of God.
In the evening, during Benediction, my soul was for some time in communion with God the Father. I felt I was in His hand like a little child, and I heard these words in my soul; do not fear anything, My daughter; all the adversaries will be shattered at My feet. At these words, a deep peace and a great interior calm entered my soul.

When I complained to the Lord that He was taking my help away and that I would be alone again and would not know what to do, I heard these words: do not be afraid; I am always with you. After these words, a deep peace once again entered my soul. His presence penetrated me completely in a way that could be sensed. My spirit was flooded with light, and my body participated in this as well.

On the evening of the last day before my departure from Vilnius, an elderly sister revealed the condition of her soul to me. She said that she had already been suffering interiorly for several years, that it seemed to her that all her confessions had been bad, and that she had doubts as to whether the Lord Jesus had forgiven her. I asked her if she had ever told her confessor about this. She answered that she had spoken many times about this to her confessors and… “the confessors are always telling me to be at peace, but still I suffer very much, and nothing brings me relief, and it constantly seems to me that God has not forgiven me. “I answered, “you should obey your confessor, sister, and be fully at peace, because this is certainly a temptation.”

But she entreated me with tears in her eyes to ask Jesus if He had forgiven her and whether her confessions had been good or not. I answered forcefully, “ask Him yourself sister, if you don’t believe your confessors!” But she clutched my hand and did not want to let me go until I gave her an answer, and she kept asking me to pray for her and to let her know what Jesus would tell me about her. Crying bitterly, she would not let me go and said to me, “I know that the Lord Jesus speaks to you sister.” Since she was clutching my hand and I could not wrench myself away, I promised her I would pray for her. In the evening, during benediction, I heard these words in my soul: tell her that her disbelief wounds My Heart more than the sins she committed. When I told her this, she began to cry like a child, and great joy entered her soul. I understood that God wanted to console this soul through me. Even though it cost me a good deal, I fulfilled God’s wish.


When I entered the chapel for a moment that same evening, to thank God for all the graces He had bestowed on me in this house, suddenly God’s presence enveloped me. I felt like a child in the hands of the best of fathers, and I heard these words: do not fear anything, I am always with you. His love penetrated my whole being. I felt I was entering into such close intimacy with Him that I cannot find words to express it.

Then I saw one of the seven spirits near me, radiant as at other times, under a form of light. I constantly saw him beside me when I was riding on the train. I saw an angel standing on every church we passed, but surrounded by a light which was paler than that of the spirit who was accompanying me on the journey, and each of these spirits who were guarding the churches bowed his head to the spirit who was near me.

When I entered the convent gate at Warsaw, the spirit disappeared. I thanked God for His goodness, that He gives us angels for companions. Oh, how little people reflect on the fact that they always have beside them such a guest, and at the same time a witness to everything! Remember, sinners, that you likewise have a witness to all your deeds.

O my Jesus, Your goodness surpasses all understanding, and no one will exhaust your mercy. Damnation is for the soul who wants to be damned; but for the one who desires salvation, there is the inexhaustible ocean of the Lord’s mercy to draw from. How can a small vessel contain the unfathomable ocean?

As I was taking leave of the sisters and was about to depart, one of them apologized much to me for having helped me so little in my duties, and not only for having neglected to help me, but also for having tried to make things more difficult for me. However, in my own heart, I regarded her as a great benefactress, because she had exercised me in patience to such an extent that one of the elder sisters had once said, “sister Faustina must be either a fool or a saint, for truly, an ordinary person would not tolerate having someone constantly do such things out of spit.” However, I had always approached her with good will. That particular sister had tried to make my work more difficult to the point that, despite my efforts, she had sometimes succeeded in spoiling what had been well done, as she herself admitted to me at our parting, and for which she begged my pardon. I had not wanted to probe her intentions, but took it as a trial from God…

I am greatly surprised at how one can be so jealous. When I see someone else’s good, I rejoice at it as if it were mine. The joy of others is my joy, and the suffering of others is my suffering, for otherwise I would not dare to commune with the Lord Jesus. The spirit of Jesus is always simple, meek, sincere, all malice, envy, and unkindness disguised under a smile of good will are clever little devils. A severe word flowing from sincere love does not wound the heart.

March 22, 1936. When I arrived at Warsaw, I went into the small chapel for a moment to thank the Lord for a safe journey, and I asked the Lord to give me the assistance and the grace necessary for everything that was in store for me here. I submitted myself in all things to His Holy will. I heard these words: Fear nothing; all difficulties will serve for the fulfillment of My will.

March 25. In the morning, during meditation, God’s presence enveloped me in a special way, as I saw the immeasurable greatness of God and, at the same time, His condescension to His creatures. Then I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing to God is the soul that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I gave the Savior to the world, as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the second coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be faithful to the end. I sympathize with you.

When I arrived at Walendow, one of the sisters gave me this welcome: “sister, now that you have come to us here, everything is going to be all right.” I said to her, “why do you say that sister?” she answered that she felt this in her soul. This particular person is full of simplicity and very pleasing to the Heart of Jesus. The house really was in dire straits [financially] … I shall not mention all of that here.

Confession. As I was preparing for confession, I said to Jesus, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, “Jesus, I beg you to speak to me through the mouth of this priest. And this will be a sign to me, because he does not know at all that you want me to establish that congregation of Mercy. Let him say something to me about this mercy.

When I approached the confessional and started my confession, the priest interrupted me and started telling me about the great mercy of God, and he spoke more forcefully about it than I had ever heard anyone speak before. And he asked me, “Do you know that the mercy of the Lord is greater than all His works, that it is the crown of His works?” and I listened attentively to these words which the Lord was speaking through the mouth of this priest. Although I believe that it is always God who speaks through the lips of the priest in the confessional, I experienced it in a special way on that occasion.

Although I did not reveal anything of the divine life which is in my soul and only accused myself of my offenses, the priest himself told me very much of what was in my soul and put me under obligation to be faithful to the inspirations of God. He said to me, “You are going through life with the Mother of God, who faithfully responded to every divine inspiration.” O, my Jesus, who can ever comprehend your goodness?
Jesus, drive away from me the thoughts that are not in accord to Your will. I know that nothing now binds me to this earth but this work of mercy.


Thursday. During the evening adoration, I saw Jesus scourged and tortured. He said to me, My daughter, I desire that even in the smallest things, you rely on your confessor. Your greatest sacrifices do not please Me of you practice them without the confessor’s permission; on the other hand, the smallest sacrifice finds great value in My eyes, if it is done with his permission. The greatest works are worthless in My eyes if they are done out of self will and often they are not in accord with My will and merit punishment rather than reward. And on the other hand, even the smallest of your acts, done with the confessor’s permission is pleasing in My eyes and very dear to Me, hold firmly to this always. Be constantly on the watch, for many souls will turn back from the gates of hell and worship My mercy. But fear nothing, as I am with you. Know that of yourself you can do nothing.

On the first Friday of the month, before Communion, I saw a large ciborium filled with sacred hosts. A hand placed the ciborium in front of me, and I took it in my hands. There were a thousand living hosts inside. Then I heard a voice, These are hosts which have been received by the souls for whom you have obtained the grace of true conversion during this Lent. That was a week before Good Friday. I spent the day in great interior recollection, emptying myself for the sake of souls.

Oh, what joy it is to empty myself for the sake of immortal souls! I know that the grain of wheat must be destroyed and ground between millstones in order to become food. In the same way, I must become destroyed in order to be useful to the Church and souls, even though exteriorly no one will notice my sacrifice. O Jesus, outwardly I want to be hidden, just like this little wafer wherein the eye perceives nothing, and yet I am a host consecrated to you.

Palm Sunday. This Sunday, I experienced in a special way the sentiments of the most sweet Heart of Jesus. My spirit was there where Jesus was. I saw Jesus riding on a donkey’s foal, and the disciples and a great multitude with branches in their hands joyfully accompanying the Lord Jesus. Some strewed them before His feet where He was riding, while others raised their branches in the air, leaping and jumping before the Lord and not knowing what to do for joy. And I saw another crowd which came out to meet Jesus, likewise with joyful faces and with branches in their hands, and they were crying out unceasingly with joy. There were little children there also. But Jesus was very grave, and the Lord gave me to know how much He was suffering at the time. And at that moment, I saw nothing but only Jesus, whose Heart was saturated with ingratitude.

Quarterly confession. Father Bukowski. When some inner force urged me again not to put off this matter, I was unable to find pace. I told the confessor, Father Bukowski, that I could not wait any longer. Father answered me: “sister, this is an illusion. The Lord Jesus cannot be demanding this. You have made your perpetual vows. All this is an illusion. You are inventing some sort of heresy!” and he was shouting at me, almost at the top of his voice. I asked him whether all of this was an illusion, and He said, “Everything.” “Then please tell me what course I must take.” “Well, sister, you must not follow any inspiration. You should get your mind off all this. You should pay no attention to what you hear in your soul and try to carry out your exterior duties well. Give no thought to these things and put them completely out of your mind.” I answered, “good” up to now, I have been following my conscience, but now that you direct me, Father, to pay no heed to my interior, I will cease to do so.” Then he said, “if the Lord Jesus tells you something again, please let me know, but you must take no action.” I answered, “very well; I will try to be obedient.” I do not know why Father was being so severe.

When I left the confessional, a multitude of thoughts oppressed my soul. Why be sincere? What I have told is no sin, so I have no duty to tell it to the confessor. And again, what a relief that I do not have to heed my interior any more as long as things are all right on the outside. I do not have to pay attention to anything or to follow the inner voices that have often cost me so much humiliation. From now on, I will be free. And again, a strange pain seized my soul: can I not, then, commune with the One whom I desire so greatly? The one who is the whole strength of my soul? I began to cry out, “to whom shall I go, O Jesus?” but from the moment of the confessor’s prohibition, great darkness fell upon my soul. I feared lest I hear some inner voice, which would occasion the breaking of my confessor’s prohibition. And then again, I die of longing for God. My interior is torn asunder, not having any will of its own, since it has been turned over completely to God.

That was on Wednesday of Holy week. The suffering intensified on Holy Thursday. When I came to make my meditation, I entered into a kind of agony. I did not feel the presence of God, but all the justice of God weighed heavily upon me. I saw myself as if knocked down for the sins of the world. Satan began to mock me, “See, now you will no longer strive to win souls; look how you’ve been paid! Nobody will believe you that Jesus demands this. See how much more you are going to suffer! After all, the confessor has now released you from all these things.” Now I can live as I like, as long as things are all right outwardly. These dreadful thoughts tormented me throughout the whole hour.

When it was almost time for Holy Mass, my heart was seized with pain; am I, then, to leave the Congregation? And since father has told me that this is a kind of heresy, am I to fall away from the Church? I cried out to the Lord with a sorrowful interior cry, “Jesus, save me!” still not a single ray of light entered my soul, and I felt my strength failing, as if the body were separation itself from the soul. I submitted to the will of God and repeated, “O God, let whatever You have decided upon happen to me. Nothing in me is any longer my own.” Then, suddenly, God’s presence enveloped me and penetrated me through and through. This was just as I was receiving Holy Communion. A moment after Holy Communion, I lost all awareness of everything around me and of my whereabouts.

Then I saw the Lord Jesus, as He is represented in the image, and He said to me, tell the confessor that this work is mine and that I am using you as a lowly instrument. And I said, “Jesus, I can no longer do anything you command me to do, because my confessor has told me that all this is an illusion, and that I am not allowed to obey any of Your commands. I will do nothing that You will tell me to do now. I am sorry, my Lord, but I am not allowed to do anything, and I must obey my confessor. Jesus, I most earnestly ask Your Pardon. You know how much I suffer because of this, but it can’t be helped, Jesus. The confessor has forbidden me to follow Your orders.” Jesus listened to my arguments and complaints with kindness and satisfaction. I thought the Lord Jesus would be grievously offended but, on the contrary, He was pleased and said to me kindly, always tell your confessor about everything I say to you and command you to do, and do only that for which you obtain permission. Do not be upset, and fear nothing; I am with you. My soul was filled with joy, and all those oppressive thoughts vanished. Certitude and courage entered my soul.


But after a short while, I entered into the sufferings which Jesus underwent in the Garden of Olives. This lasted until Friday morning. On Friday, I experienced the Passion of Jesus but, this time, in a different way. On that day, Father Bukowski came from Derby. Some strange power pushed me to go to confession and tell him about everything that had happened to me and about what Jesus had said to me. When I told Father, he was quite different and he said to me, “sister, don’t be afraid of anything; you will come to no harm, for the Lord Jesus will not allow it. If you are obedient and persevere in this disposition, you need not worry about anything. God will find a way to bring about His work. You should always have this simplicity and sincerity and tell everything to Mother general. What I said to you was said as a warning, because illusions may afflict even holy persons, and satan’s insinuations may play a part in this, and sometimes this comes from our own selves, so one has to be careful. And so continue as you have thus far. You can see, sister, that the Lord is not angered by this. And sister, you can repeat these things that have happened to you at present to your regular confessor [Father Sopocko].”

From this I came to understand one thing: that I must pray much for each of my confessors, that he might obtain the light of the Holy Spirit, for when I approach the confessional without first praying fervently, the confessor does not understand me very well. Father encouraged me to pray fervently for these intentions, that God would give better knowledge and understanding of the things He is asking of me. “Make novena after novena, sister, and God will not refuse the graces.”

Good Friday. At three o’clock, I saw the Lord Jesus, crucified, who looked at me and said, I thirst. Then I saw two rays issue from His side, just as they appear in the image. I then felt in my soul the desire to save souls and to empty myself for the sake of poor sinners. I offered myself, together with the dying Jesus, to the Eternal Father, for the salvation of the whole world. With Jesus, through Jesus and in Jesus is my communion with You, eternal Father. On Good Friday, Jesus suffered in His soul in a way which was different from [His suffering on] Holy Thursday.

Mass of the Resurrection. April 12, 1936. when I entered the chapel, my spirit was immersed in God, its only treasure. His presence flooded me.
O my Jesus, my Master and Director, strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moment of my life. I expect no help from people; all my hope is in You. I feel alone in the face of Your demands, O Lord. Despite the fears and qualms of my nature, I am fulfilling your Holy will and desire to fulfill it as faithfully as possible throughout my life and in my death. Jesus, with You I can do all things. Do with me as You please: only give me Your merciful Heart and that is enough for me.
O Jesus my Lord, help me. Let what You have planned before all ages happen to me. I am ready at each beckoning of Your Holy will, enlighten my mind that I may know Your will. O God, You who pervade my soul, You know that I desire nothing but Your Glory.
O divine will, You are the delight of my heart, the food of my soul, the light of my intellect, the omnipotent strength of my will; for when I unite myself with Your will, O Lord, Your power works through me and takes the place of my feeble will. Each day, I seek to carry out God’s wishes.
O incomprehensible God, how great is Your mercy! It surpasses the combined understanding of all men and angels. All the angels and all humans have emerged from the very depths of Your tender mercy. Mercy is the flower of love. God is love, and mercy is His deed. In love it is conceived; in mercy it is revealed. Everything I look at speaks to me of God’s mercy. Even God’s very justice speaks to me about His fathomless mercy, because justice flows from love.

There is one word I heed and continually ponder; it alone is everything to me: I live by it and die by it, and it is the Holy will of God. It is my daily food. My whole soul listens intently to God’s wishes. I do always what God asks of me, although my nature often quakes and I feel that the magnitude of these things is beyond my strength. I know well what I am of myself, but I also know what the grace of God is, which supports me.

April 25, 1936. Walendow. On that day, the suffering in my soul was more sever than ever before. From early morning, I felt as if my body and soul had separated. If felt that God’s presence had penetrated my whole being; if felt all the justice of God within me; I felt I stood alone before God. I thought: one word from my spiritual director would set me entirely at peace; but what can I do? He is not here. However, I decided to seek light in holy confession. When I uncovered my soul to the priest, he as afraid to continue hearing my confession, and that caused me even greater suffering. When I see that a priest is fearful, I do not obtain any inner peace. So I have decided that only to my spiritual director will I open my soul in all matters, from the greatest to the least, and that I will follow his directions strictly.

Now I understand that confession is only the confessing of one’s sins, and spiritual guidance is a different thing altogether. But this is not what I want to speak about. I want to tell about a strange thing that happened to me for the first time. When the confessor started talking to me, I did not understand a single word. Then I saw Jesus crucified and He said to me, it is in my Passion that you must seek light and strength. After the confession, I meditated on Jesus’ terrible Passion, and I understood that what I was suffering was nothing compared to the Savior’s Passion, and that even the smallest imperfection was the cause of this terrible suffering. Then my soul was filled with very great contrition, and only then I sensed that I was in the sea of the infathomable mercy of God. Oh, how few words I have to express what I am experiencing! I feel I am like a drop of dew engulfed in the depths of the bottomless ocean of divine mercy.


May 11, 1936. I came to Cracow. I was happy that at last I shall be able to carry out all that the Lord Jesus was demanding.

Once, when I was speaking with Father A [Andrasz] and had told him everything, I received this answer: “sister, pray till the day of the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart and add some mortification to the prayer, and on the feast of the Sacred Heart I will give you an answer.” But one day, I heard this voice in my soul: fear nothing; I am with you. After these words, I felt such an urgency within me that, without waiting for the feast of the Sacred Heart, I said during the confession that I was going to leave the Congregation immediately. Father answered, “Sister, since you have made the decision by yourself, then take the responsibility for yourself. Go.” I was happy to be leaving.

The following morning, God’s presence suddenly left me. A great darkness came over my soul. I could not pray. Because of this sudden loss of the presence of God, I decided to postpone the matter for a while, until I had talked with Father.
Father A [Andrasz] answered that such changes in souls were frequent, and that this was not an obstacle to action.
When I talked to Mother General [Michael] about everything that had happened to me, she said, “sister, I am locking you in the tabernacle with the Lord Jesus; wherever you go from there, that will be the will of God.”

June 19. When we went to the Jesuits’ place for the procession of the Sacred Heart, during vespers I saw the same rays coming forth from the Sacred Host, just as they are painted in the image. My soul was filled with great longing for God.

June, 1936. Conversation with Father Andrasz. “know that these are hard and difficult things. Your principal spiritual director is the Holy Spirit. We can only give direction to these inspirations, but your real director is the Holy Spirit. If you yourself have decided to leave, sister, I neither prohibit nor order you to do so. You take the responsibility for yourself. I say this to you, sister: you can begin to take action. You re capable of doing so, and therefore you can do so. These things are indeed probable; all you have told me up to now [before perpetual vows in Cracow in 1933] speaks in favor of taking action. Still, you have to be very careful in all this. Pray much and ask that I be given light.”

During Holy Mass, offering by Father Andrasz, I saw the little infant Jesus, who told me that I was to depend on him for everything; no action undertaken on your own, even though you put much effort into it, pleases Me. I understood this need of dependence.

O my Jesus, on the day of the last judgment, you will demand from me an account of this work of mercy. O just Judge, but my Spouse as well, help me to do your holy will. O mercy, O Divine virtue!
O most merciful Heart of Jesus, my Betrothed, make my heart like unto Yours.

July 16. I spent this whole night in prayer. I meditated upon the Lord’s Passion, and my soul was crushed by the burden of God’s justice. The Hand of the Lord touched me.

July 17. O my Jesus, you know how much adversity I encounter in this matter, how much reproach I must put up with, how many ironic smiles I must take with equanimity. Oh, alone I would not be able to survive this, but with you, my Master, I can do all things. Oh, how painfully an ironic smile wounds, especially when one [appears to] speak with great sincerity.

July 22. O my Jesus, I know that a person’s greatness is evidenced by his deeds and not by his words or feelings. It is the works that have come from us that will speak about us. My Jesus, do not allow me to daydream, but give me the courage and strength to fulfill Your Holy will.

Jesus, if you wish to leave me in uncertainty, even to the end of my life, may Your Holy name be blessed.


O my Jesus, how immensely I rejoice at the assurance You have given me that the Congregation will come into being. I no longer have the least shadow of a doubt about this, and I see how great is the glory which it will give to God. It will be the reflection of God’s greatest attribute; that is, His divine mercy. Unceasingly, they will intercede for divine mercy for themselves and for the whole world. And every act of mercy will flow from God’s love, that love with which they will be filled to overflowing. They will strive to make their own this great attribute of God, and to live by it and to bring others to know it and to trust in the goodness of the Lord. This congregation of Divine mercy will be in God’s church like a beehive in a magnificent garden, hidden and meek. The sisters will work like bees to feed their neighbors’ souls with honey, while the wax will flame for the glory of God.

June 29, 1936. Father Andrasz told me to make a novena for the intention of knowing better the will of God. I prayed ardently, adding a certain bodily mortification. Towards the end of the novena, I received an inner light and the assurance that the congregation will come into being and that it is pleasing to God. Despite the difficulties and adversities, complete peace and strength entered my soul from on high. I understood that nothing could resist or nullify the will of God. I understood that I must carry out this will of God despite obstacles, persecution and sufferings of all kinds, and despite natural repugnance and fear.

I understood that all striving for perfection and all sanctity consist in doing God’s will. Perfect fulfillment of God’s will is maturity in sanctity; there is not room for doubt here. To receive God’s light and recognize what God wants of us and yet not do it is a great offense against the majesty of God. Such a soul deserves to be completely forsaken by God. It resembles Lucifer, who had great light, but did not do God’s will. An extraordinary peace entered my soul when I reflected on the fact that, despite great difficulties, I had always faithfully followed God’s will as I knew it. O Jesus, grant me the grace to put Your will into practice as I have come to know it, O God.

July 14. I received a letter at three o’clock [from Father Sopocko]. O Jesus, you alone know what I suffer, but I will keep silent and will not say anything about it to any creature, because I know that no one will comfort me. You re everything to me, O God, and Your Holy will is my nourishment. I am living now on what I will live on in eternity.

I have great reverence for Saint Michael the Archangel; he had no example to follow in doing the will of God, and yet he fulfilled God’s will faithfully.

July 15. During Holy Mass, I offered myself completely to the heavenly Father through the sweetest Heart of Jesus; let Him do as He pleases with me. Of myself I am nothing, and in my misery I have nothing of worth; so I abandon myself into the ocean or Your mercy, O Lord.

July 16. I am learning how to be good from Jesus, from Him who is goodness itself. So that I may be called a daughter of the heavenly Father. This morning, when someone hurt my feelings, I tried, in that suffering, to unite my will to the will of God, and I praised God by my silence. In the afternoon, I went for a five-minute adoration, when suddenly I saw the crucifix I have on my breast come alive. Jesus said to me, My daughter, suffering will be a sign to you that I am with you. My soul was greatly moved by these words.

O Jesus, my Master and my director, it is only with You that I can converse. With no one else is it so easy to talk as with You, O God.

In my spiritual life, I will always hold on to the priest’s hand. About my soul’s life and its needs, I will speak only with my confessor.


August 4, 1936. Inner torment for more than two hours. Agony…. Suddenly, God’s presence pervades me and I feel as though I am coming under the power of the just God. His justice pervades me to the marrow; outwardly I lose strength and consciousness. With this, I come to know the great holiness of God and my own great misery. A great torment afflicts my soul; the soul perceives its deeds to be not without blemish. Then the strength of trust is awakened in the soul, which longs for God with all its might. Yet it sees how miserable it is and what utter vanity everything that surrounds it. And face to face with such holiness, oh, poor soul…

August 13. I was tormented by terrible temptations all day; blasphemies thrust themselves upon my lips, and I felt an aversion for everything that is holy and godlike. Yet I struggled throughout the day. In the evening, my mind became oppressed: what’s the use of telling this to the confessor? He will ridicule it. A feeling of aversion and discouragement filled my soul, and it seemed to me that I could by no means receive Holy Communion in that condition. At the thought of not receiving Communion, such a terrible pain seized my soul that I almost cried aloud in the chapel. But I suddenly realized that the sisters where there and decided to go to the garden and hide myself there so as to be able to at least cry out loud. Then suddenly, Jesus stood by me and said, Where are you intending to go?

I gave no answer to Jesus, but poured out all my sorrow before Him, and satan’s attempts ceased. Jesus then said to me, the inner peace that you have is a grace, and suddenly He was gone. I felt happy and unaccountably peaceful. Really, for so much peace to return within a moment, that is a thing only Jesus can do, He, the most high Lord.

August 7, 1936. When I received the article about Divine Mercy with the Image [on the cover] God’s presence filled me in an extraordinary way. When I steeped myself in a prayer of thanksgiving, I suddenly saw the Lord Jesus in a great brightness, just as He is painted, and at His feet I saw Father Andrasz and Father Sopocko. Both were holding pens in their hands, and flashes of light and fire, like lightning, were coming from the tips of their pens and striking a great crowd of people who were hurrying I know not where. Whoever was touched by the ray of light immediately turned his back on the crowd and held out his hands to Jesus. Some returned with great joy, others with great pain and compunction. Jesus was looking at both priests with great kindness. After a while, I was left alone with Jesus, and I said, “Jesus, take me now, for Your will has already been accomplished.” And Jesus answered, My will has not yet been completely accomplished in you; you will still suffer much, but I am with you; do not fear.

I have been talking much with the Lord about Father Andrasz and also about Father Sopocko. I know that whatever I ask of the Lord He will not refuse me, and He will give them that for which I ask. I sensed and I know how greatly Jesus loves them. I am not writing about this in detail, but I know this, and it makes me very happy.

August 15, 1936. During a Mass celebrated by Father Andrasz, a moment before the Elevation, God’s presence pervaded my soul, which was drawn to the altar. Then I saw the Mother of God with the Infant Jesus. The infant Jesus was holding onto the hand of Our Lady. A moment later, the infant Jesus ran with joy to the center of the altar, and the Mother of God said to me, see with what assurance I entrust Jesus into his hands. In the same way, you are to entrust your soul and be like a child to him.

After these words, my soul was filled with unusual trust. The Mother of God was clothed in a white dress, strangely white, transparent; on Her shoulders she had a transparent blue; that is, a blue like mantle; with uncovered head and flowing hair, She was exquisite, and inconceivably beautiful. She was looking at Father with great tenderness, but after a moment, He broke up this beautiful child, and living blood flowed forth. Father bent forward and received the true and living Jesus into himself. Had he eaten Him? I do not know how this took place. Jesus, Jesus, I cannot keep up with You, for in an instant, You become incomprehensible to me.


The essence of the virtues is the will of God. He who does the will of God faithfully, practices all the virtues. In all the events and circumstances of my life, I adore and bless the holy will of God. The holy will of God is the object of my love. In the most secret depths of my soul, I live according to His will. I act exteriorly according to what I recognize inwardly as the will of God. Sweeter to me are the torments, sufferings, persecutions and all manner of adversities by divine will than popularity, praise and esteem by my own will.

Good night, my Jesus; the bell is calling me to sleep. My Jesus, You see that I am dying from the desire to save souls. Good night, my beloved; I rejoice at being one day closer to eternity. And if You let me wake up tomorrow, Jesus, I shall begin a new hymn to your praise.

July 13. During meditation today, I came to understand that I should never speak about my own interior experiences, but that I should conceal noting from my spiritual director, and I will especially ask God to enlighten my spiritual director. I attach greater importance to the words of my confessor than to all the lights taken together that I receive interiorly.

Amid the greatest torments, I fix the gaze of my soul upon Jesus crucified; I do not expect help from people, but place my trust in God. In His unfathomable mercy lies all my hope.

The more I feel that God is transforming me, the more I desire to immerse myself in silence. The love of God is doing its work in the depths of my soul. I see that the mission which the Lord has entrusted to me is beginning.

Once, when I was praying fervently to the Jesuit Saints, I suddenly saw my guardian angel, who led me before the throne of God. I passed through great hosts of saints, and I recognized many of them, whom I knew from their pictures. I saw many Jesuits, who asked me from what congregation I was. When I answered they asked, “Who is your spiritual director?” I answered that it was Father A… when they wanted to say more, my Guardian angel beckoned me to be silent, and I came before the throne of God. I saw a great and inaccessible light, and I saw a place destined for me, close to God. But what it was like I do not know, because a cloud covered it. However, my Guardian angel said to me, “Here is your throne, for your faithfulness in fulfilling the will of God.”

Holy Hour. Thursday. During this hour of prayer, Jesus allowed me to enter the Cenacle, and I was a witness to what happened there. However, I was most deeply moved when, before the Consecration, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and entered into a mysterious conversation with His Father. It is only in eternity that we shall really understand that moment. His eyes were like two flames; His face was radiant, white as snow; His whole personage full of majesty, His soul full of longing. At the moment of Consecration, love rested satiated, the sacrifice fully consummated. Now only the external ceremony of death will be carried out, external destruction; the essence of it is in the Cenacle, never in my whole life had I understood this mystery so profoundly as during that hour of adoration. Oh, how ardently I desire that the whole world would come to know this unfathomable mystery!

After the Holy Hour, when I went to my cell, I suddenly learned how greatly God was offended by a certain person, who was close to my heart. At the sight of this, my soul was pierced with pain, and I cast myself in the durst before the Lord, begging His mercy. For two hours, in tears, prayer and flagellation I prevented the sin, and I learned that God’s mercy had embraced that poor soul. Oh, the price of one single sin!

September. First Friday. In the evening, I saw the Mother of God, with Her breast bared and pierced with a sword. She was shedding bitter tears and shielding us against God’s terrible punishment. God want to inflict terrible punishment on us, but He cannot because the Mother of God is shielding us. Horrible fear seized my soul. I kept praying incessantly for Poland, for my dear Poland, which is so lacking in gratitude for the Mother of God. If it were not for the Mother of God, all our efforts would be of little use. I intensified my prayers and sacrifices for our dear native land, but I see that I am a drop before the wave of evil. How can a drop stop a wave? O yes! A drop is nothing of itself, but with You, Jesus, I shall stand up bravely to the whole wave of evil and even to the whole of hell. Your omnipotence can do all things.

Once, as I was going down the hall to the kitchen, I heard these words in my soul: say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if her were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy.

Jesus, life and truth, my Master, guide every step of my life, that I may act according to Your Holy will.


On one occasion, I saw the throne of the Lamb of God and before the throne three saints: Stanislous Kostka, Andrew Bobola and Prince Casimir, who were interceding for Poland. All at once I saw a large book which stands before the throne, and it was given to me to read. The book was written in blood. Still, I could not read anything but the name, Jesus. Then I heard a voice which said to me, your hour has not yet come. Then the book was taken away from me, and I heard these words: You will bear witness to My infinite mercy. In this book are written the names of the souls that have glorified My mercy. I was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of such great goodness of God.

On one occasion, I came to know of the condition of two religious sisters who were grumbling interiorly about an order the superior had given them, and for this reason God had withheld many special graces from them. My heart ached at this sight. How sad it is, O Jesus, when we ourselves are the cause of the loss of graces. Whoever understands this is always faithful.

Thursday. Although I was very tired today, I nevertheless resolved to make a Holy Hour. I could not pray, not could I remain kneeling, but I remained in prayer for a whole hour and united myself in spirit with those souls who are already worshipping God in the perfect way. But towards the end of the hour, I suddenly saw Jesus, who looked at me penetratingly and said with ineffable sweetness, Your prayer is extremely pleasing to Me. After these words, an unusual power and spiritual joy entered my soul. God’s presence continued to pervade my soul. Oh, what happens to a soul that meets the Lord face to face, no pen has ever expressed or ever will express!

O Jesus, I understand that Your mercy is beyond all imagining, and therefore I ask You to make my heart so big that there will be room in it for the needs of all the souls living on the face of the earth. O Jesus, my love extends beyond the world, to the souls suffering in purgatory, and I want to exercise mercy toward them by means of indulgenced prayers. God’s mercy is unfathomable and inexhaustible, just as God himself is unfathomable. Even if I were to use the strongest words there are to express this mercy of God, all this would be nothing in comparison with what it is in reality. O Jesus, make my heart sensitive to all the sufferings of my neighbor, whether of body or of soul. O my Jesus, I know that you act toward us as we act toward our neighbor.

My Jesus, make my heart like unto Your merciful Heart. Jesus help me to go through life doing good to everyone.

September 14, 1936. the archbishop [Jalbrzkowski] of Vilnius visited us. Although he stayed with us for a very short time, I still had a chance to talk with this worthy priest about the work of mercy. He showed himself very favorably disposed to this cause of mercy: “sister, be completely at peace; if this is within the plans of divine providence, it will come about. In the meantime, sister, pray for a clearer outward sign. Let the Lord Jesus give you a clearer knowledge of this. I beg you to wait a little while longer. The lord Jesus will arrange the circumstances in such a way that everything will turn out all right.”

September 19, 1936. When we left the doctor’s office and stepped into the sanatorium chapel for a moment, I heard these words in my soul: My child, just a few more drops in your chalice; it wont be long now. Joy filled my soul; this was the first call from my beloved Spouse and Master. My heart melted, and there was a moment when my soul was immersed in the whole sea of God’s mercy. I felt that my mission was beginning in all its fullness. Death destroys nothing that is good. I pray most of all for the souls that are experiencing inner sufferings.

Once, I received light concerning two sisters. I understood that it is not possible for a person to act in the same manner towards everyone. There are some people who have a strange way of making friends with others. And then, as friends and under the pretext of that friendship, they manage to draw the person out, word by word. Then, when the right moment comes, they use those very same words to hurt that person. My Jesus, how strange is human frailty! Your love, Jesus, gives the soul this great prudence in its dealings with others.


September 24, 1936. Mother superior [Irene] ordered me to say one decade of the rosary in place of all the other exercises, and to go to bed at once. As soon as I lay down I fell asleep, for I was very tired. But a while later, I was awakened by suffering. It was such a great suffering that it prevented me from making even the slightest movement; I could not even swallow my saliva. This lasted for about three hours. I thought of waking up the novice sister who shared my room, but then I thought, “She cannot give me any help, so let her sleep. It would be a pity to wake her.” I resigned myself completely to the will of God and thought that the day of my death, so much desired, had come. It was an occasion for me to unite myself with Jesus suffering on the Cross. Beyond that, I was unable to pray. When the suffering ceased, I began to perspire. But I still could not move, as the pain would return at each attempt. In the morning, I felt very tired, though I felt no further physical pain. Still, I could not get up to attend Mass. I thought to myself, if after such suffering death does not come, then how great the sufferings of death must be!

Jesus, you know that I love suffering and want to drain the cup of suffering to the last drop; and yet, my nature experienced a slight shudder and fear. Quickly, however, my trust in the infinite mercy of God was awakened in all its force, and everything else had to give way before it, like a shadow retreating before the sun’s rays. O Jesus, how great is your goodness! Your infinite goodness, so well known to me, enables me to bravely look death itself in the eye. I know that nothing will happen to me without God’s permission. I desire to glorify your infinite mercy during my life, at the hour of death, in the resurrection and throughout eternity.

My Jesus, my strength, my peace, my repose; my soul bathes daily in the rays of Your mercy. There is not a moment in my life when I do not experience Your mercy, O God, I count on nothing in my while life, but only on Your infinite mercy. It is the guiding thread of my life, O Lord. My soul is filled with God’s mercy.

Oh, how sorely Jesus is hurt by the ingratitude of a chosen soul! What a martyrdom it is for His unspeakable love! God loves us with the entire infinite Being that He is; and imagine, a miserable particle of dust scorns that love! My heart bursts with pain when I see this ingratitude.

On one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate my love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.

Once, when I was very tired and in much pain, I told Mother superior [Irene] about it and received the answer that I should get used to suffering. I listened to everything that Mother told me, and then I went out. Our mother superior has great love of neighbor and especially great love for the sick sisters, as everyone knows. And yet, as regards me, it is extraordinary that the Lord Jesus has permitted that she not understand me and that she test me much in this respect.

On this particular day, when I was feeling so bad and still went to work, every now and then I would feel sick. It was so very hot that, even without working a person felt terrible, not to mention what it was like when one had to work while suffering. So, before noon, I straightened up from my work, looked up to the sky with great trust and said to the Lord, “Jesus, cover the sun, for I cannot stand this heat any longer.” And, O wonder, at that very moment a white cloud covered the sun and, from then on, the heat became less intense. When a little while later I began to reproach myself that I did not bear the heat, but begged for relief, Jesus himself put me at ease.


August 13, 1936. Tonight God’s presence is pervading me, and in an instant I come to know the great holiness of God. Oh, how the greatness of God overwhelms me! I then come to know the whole depth of my nothingness. This is a great torment, for this knowledge is followed by love. The soul bounds forward vehemently toward God, and the two loves come face to face: the Creator and the creature; one little drip seeks to measure itself with the ocean. At first, the little drop wants to enclose the infinite ocean within itself; but at the same moment, it knows itself to be just one small drop, and thus it is vanquished, and it passes completely into God like a drop into the ocean. At first, this moment is a torment, but so sweet that, on experiencing it, the soul is happy.

At present, the topic of my particular exam is my union with the Merciful Christ. This practice gives me unusual strength; my heart is always united with the One it desires, and its actions are regulated by mercy, which flows from love.

I spend every free moment at the feet of the hidden God. He is my Master; I ask Him about everything; I speak to Him about everything. Here I obtain strength and light; her I learn everything; here I cam given light on how to act toward my neighbor. From the time I left the novitiate, I have enclosed myself in the tabernacle together with Jesus, my Master. He himself drew me into the fire of living love on which everything converges.

September 25. I suffer great pain in my hands, feet and side, the places where Jesus’ body was pierced. I experience these pains particularly when I meet with a soul who is not in the state of grace. Then I pray fervently that the mercy of God will embrace that soul.

September 29. On the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, I saw by my side that great Leader, who spoke these words to me: “The Lord has ordered me to take special care of you. Know that you are hated by evil; but do not fear – “Who is like God!” And he disappeared. But I feel his presence and assistance.

October 2, 1936. The First Friday of the month. After Holy Communion, I suddenly saw the Lord Jesus, who spoke these words to me; Now I know that it is not for the graces or gifts that you love Me, but because My will is dearer to you than life. That is why I am uniting myself with you so intimately as with no other creature. At that moment, Jesus disappeared. My soul was filled with the presence of God. I know that the gaze of the Mighty One rests upon me. I plunged myself completely in the joy that flows from God. I continued throughout the whole day without interruption, thus immersed in God. In the evening, I fell as if into a faint and a strange sort of agony. My love wants to equal the love of the Mighty One. It is drawn to Him so vehemently that it is impossible, without some special grace from God, to bear the vastness of such a grace in this life. But I see clearly that Jesus himself is sustaining me and strengthening me and making me capable of communing with Him. In all this, the soul is particularly active.

October 3, 1936. During the rosary today, I suddenly saw a ciborium with the Blessed Sacrament. The ciborium was uncovered and quite filled with hosts. From the ciborium came a voice: These hosts have been received by souls converted through your prayer and suffering. At this point, I felt God’s presence as a child would; I felt strangely like a child.


When one day I felt I would be unable to carry on till nine and asked S.N. for something to eat, because I was going to bed earlier as I as not feeling well, S.N. answered, “but you are not ill, sister, they only wanted you to have some rest, so they made up the illness.” O my Jesus, my illness is so far advanced that the doctor has separated me from the sisters to prevent them from becoming infected, and yet one is judged in this way. But that’s good, all this is for You, my Jesus. I do not want to write much about external matters, for they are not the reason for my writing; I want in particular to note the graces granted me by the Lord, because these are not only for me, but for many other souls as well.

October 5, 1936. Today, I received a letter from Father Sopocko. I learned that he intends to publish a holy card of the Merciful Christ. He asked me to send him a certain prayer which he wants to put on the back, if he receives the Archbishop’s approbation. Oh, what great joy fills my heart that God has let me see this work of His mercy! How great is this work of the Most High God! I am but His instrument. Oh, how ardently I desire to see this Feast of the Divine Mercy which God is demanding through me. But if it is the will of God that it be celebrated solemnly only after my death, even so I rejoice in it already, and I celebrate it interiorly with my confessor’s permission.

I saw Father Andrasz today, kneeling and engulfed in prayer, and suddenly Jesus stood by him and, holding out both hands over his head, He said to me: He will lead you through; do not fear.

October 11. This evening, as I was writing about this great mercy of God and its great advantage to souls, satan rushed into my room with great anger and fury. He seized the screen and began to break and crush it. I was a little frightened at first, but I immediately make the sign of the Cross with my little crucifix, and the beast fell quiet and disappeared at once. Today, I did not see this hideous figure but only his anger. Satan’s anger is terrible, and yet the screen was not shattered or broken, and I went on writing quietly. I know well that the wretch will not touch me without God’s willing it, but what is he up to? He is beginning to attack me openly and with such great fury and hate, but he does not disturb my peace for a moment, and this composure of mine makes him furious.

The Lord said to me today: Go to the superior and tell her that I want all the sisters and wards to say the chaplet which I have taught you. They are to say it for nine days in the chapel in order to propitiate My Father and to entreat God’s mercy for Poland. I answered the Lord that I would tell her, but that I must first speak about this with Father Andrasz, and I resolved that as soon as Father comes I will speak to him at once about this matter. When father arrived, the circumstances were such that they prevented me from seeing him, but I should not have paid any attention to the circumstances and should have gone and settled the matter. I thought to myself, “Well, I’ll do it when he comes again.”

Oh, how much that displeased God! In one moment the presence of God left me, that great presence of God which is continuously within me in a distinctly felt way. At that moment, however, it completely left me. Darkness dominated my soul to such an extend that I did not know whether I was in the state of grace or not. Therefore, I did not receive Holy Communion for four days, after which I saw Father Andresz and told him everything. He comforted me, saying, “You have not lost the grace of God, but all the same, be true to Him.” The moment I left the confessional, God’s presence enveloped me as before. I understood that God’s grace must be received just as God sends it, in the way He wants, and one must receive it in that form under which God sends it to us.

O my Jesus, I am making at this very moment a firm and eternal resolution by virtue of Your grace and mercy, fidelity to he tiniest grace of Yours.


All night long, I was preparing to receive Holy Communion, since I could not sleep because of physical suffering. My soul was flooded with love and repentance.

After Holy Communion, I heard these words: you see what you are of yourself, but do not be frightened at this. If I were to reveal to you the whole misery that you are, you would die of terror. However, be aware of what you are. Because you are such great misery, I have revealed to you the whole ocean of My mercy. I seek and desire souls like yours, but they are few. Your great trust in Me forces me to continuously grant you graces. You have great and incomprehensible rights over My Heart, for you are a daughter of complete trust. You would not have been able to bear the magnitude of the love which I have for you if I had revealed it to you fully here on earth. I often give you a glimpse of it, but know that this is only an exceptional grace from Me. My love and mercy knows no bounds.

Today, I heard these words: know, my child, that for your sake I grant blessings to this whole vicinity. But you ought to thank Me on their behalf, as they do not thank Me for the kindnesses I extend to them. For the sake of your gratitude, I will continue to bless them.

O my Jesus, you know how difficult community life is, how many misunderstandings and misconceptions, despite at times the most sincere good will on both sides. But that is Your mystery, O Lord. We shall know it in eternity; however, our judgments should always be mild.
It is a great, an immeasurably great grace of God to have a spiritual director. I feel now that, without him, I would not be able to journey alone in my spiritual life. Great is the power of a priest. I thank God unceasingly for giving me a spiritual director.

Today, I heard these words: you see how weak you are, so when shall I be able to count on you? I answered, “Jesus, be always with me, for I am Your little child, Jesus, you know what little children do.”

Today I heard these words: the graces I grant you re not for you alone, but for a great number of other souls as well… and your heart is My constant dwelling place, despite the misery that you are. I unite myself with you, take away your misery and give you My Mercy. I perform works of mercy in every soul. The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy. My mercy is confirmed in every work of My hands. He who trusts in My mercy will not perish, for all his affairs are Mine, and his enemies will be shattered at the base of My footstool.

On the ever of the retreat, I started to pray that the Lord Jesus might give me just a little health so that I could take part in the retreat, because I was feeling so ill that I thought perhaps it might be my last. However, as soon as I had started praying I felt a strange dissatisfaction. I interrupted the prayer of supplication and began to thank the Lord for everything He sends me, submitting myself completely to His holy will. Then I felt profound peace of soul. Faithful submission to the will of God, always and everywhere in all events and circumstances of life, gives great glory to God. Such submission to the will of God carries more weight with Him than long fasts, mortifications and the most severe penances. Oh, how great is the reward for one act of loving submission to the will of God! As I write, my soul is enraptured at the thought of how much God loves it and of the peace that my soul already enjoys, here on earth.

J.M.J. Cracow, 1936.
O Divine Will, be my love!
Eight day retreat, October 20, 1936.
My Jesus, I am going into the wilderness today to speak only with You, my Master and my Lord. Let the earth be silent, and You alone speak to me, Jesus. you know that I understand no other voice but yours, O good Shepherd. In the dwelling of my heart is that wilderness to which no creature has access. There, You alone are King.

When I entered the chapel for a five minute adoration, I asked the Lord Jesus how I should conduct myself during this retreat. Then I heard this voice in my soul: I desire that you be entirely transformed into love and that you burn ardently as a pure victim of love…

Eternal truth, give me a ray of Your light that I may come to know You, O Lord, and worthily glorify Your infinite mercy. And at the same time, grant me to know myself, the whole abyss of misery that I am.


I have chosen Saint Claude de la Colombiere and Saint Gertrude as my patron saints for this retreat, that they may intercede for me before the Mother of God and the merciful Savior.

During the meditation on creation… at a certain point, my soul became closely united to its Lord and Creator. In this union, I recognized the purpose and destiny of my life. My purpose is to become closely united to God through love, and my destiny is to praise and glorify God’s mercy. The Lord has allowed me to know and experience this in a distinct and even physical way. I become lost in adoration when I recognize and experience this incomprehensible love of God with which God loves me. Who is God and what am I? I cannot meditate on this any further. Only love can understand this meeting of two spirits, namely, God, who is spirit and the soul who is creature. The more I know Him, the more completely with all the strength of my being I drown in Him.

In this retreat, I shall keep you continually close to My Heart, that you may better know My mercy, that mercy which I have for people and especially for poor sinners.

On the initial day of the retreat, I was visited by one of the sisters who had come to make her perpetual vows. She confided to me that she had no trust in God and became discouraged at every little thing. I answered her, “it is well that you have told me this, sister; I will pray for you.” And I spoke a few words to her about how much distrust hurts the Lord Jesus, especially distrust on the part of a chosen soul. She told me that, beginning with her perpetual vows, she would practice trust. Now I know that even some souls that are chosen and well advanced in the religious life or the spiritual life do not have the courage to entrust themselves completely to God. And this is so because few souls know the unfathomable mercy of God and His great goodness.

The great majesty of God which pervaded me today and still pervades me awoke in me a great fear, but a fear filled with respect, and not the fear of a slave, which is quite different from the fear of respect. This fear animated by respect arose in my heart today because of love and the knowledge of the greatness of God, and that is a great joy to the soul. The soul trembles before the smallest offense against God; but that does not trouble or darken its happiness. There, where love is in charge, all is well.

It sometimes happens, while I am listening to the meditation, that one word puts me in very close union with the Lord, and I no longer know what Father is saying. I know that I am close to the most merciful Heart of Jesus; my whole spirit is entirely plunged in Him, and in one moment I learn more than during long hours of intellectual inquiry and meditation. These are sudden lights which permit me to know things as God sees them, regarding matters of both the interior and the exterior world.

I see that Jesus himself is acting in my soul during this retreat. And as for me, I try only to be faithful to His grace. I have submitted my soul completely to the influence of God. This Mighty ruler of Heaven has taken entire possession of my soul. I feel that I am being lifted up above earth and heaven into the inner life of God, where I come to know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but always in the unity of majesty.

I will enclose myself in the chalice of Jesus so that I may comfort Him continually. I will do everything within my power to save souls, and I will do it through prayer and suffering. I try always to be a Bethany for Jesus, so that He may rest here after all His labors. In Holy Communion, my union with Jesus is so intimate and incomprehensible that even if I wanted to describe it in writing I would not do so, because I lack the words.

This evening, I saw the Lord Jesus just as He was during His Passion. His eyes were raised up to His Father, and He was praying for us.

Although I was ill, I made up my mind to make a Holy Hour today as usual. During that hour, I saw the Lord Jesus being scourged at the pillar. In the midst of this frightful torture, Jesus was praying. After w while, He said to me, There are few souls who contemplate My Passion with true feeling; I give great graces to souls who meditate devoutly on my Passion.
Without special help from Me, you re not even capable of accepting My graces. You know who you are.


After Holy Communion today, I spoke at length to the Lord Jesus about people who are special to me. Then I heard these words: My daughter, don’t be exerting yourself so much with words. Those whom you love in a special way, I too love in a special way, and for your sake, I shower My graces upon them. I am pleased when you tell Me about them, but don’t be doing so with such excessive effort.
O Savior of the world. I unite myself with Your mercy. My Jesus, I join all my sufferings to Yours and deposit them in the treasury of the Church for the benefit of souls.

Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it, a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is conditional darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of satan, the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like.

I, sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God’s mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, then offend You by the least sin.

J.M.J.
My daughter, if I demand through you that people revere My mercy, you should be the first to distinguish yourself by this confidence in My mercy. I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first- by deed, the second- by word, the third- by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy, and I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works. O My Jesus, you yourself must help me in everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on Your goodness, O God.

Particular Exam.
Union with the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world, especially countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I am praying for mercy upon them.

Two general resolutions: First: To strive after inner silence and to observe the rule of silence strictly.
Second: Faithfulness to interior inspirations, to bring them into my life and actions according to the advice of my spiritual director.

In this present illness, I desire to glorify the will of God. I will try, as far as I am able, to take part in all the community exercises. I will give the Lord God fervent thanks for every sorrow and suffering.
I often feel that, apart from Jesus, I get no help from anyone, although sometimes I am very much in need of clarifications concerning the demands of the Lord.

This evening, I suddenly received light from God regarding a certain matter. For twelve years, I have been reflecting on a certain matter and could not understand it. Today, Jesus gave me to know how much that had pleased Him.


The Feast of Christ the King. [October 25, 1936]
During Holy Mass, I was so enveloped in the great interior fire of God’s love and the desire to save souls that I do not know how to express it. I feel I am all aflame. I shall fight all evil with the weapon of mercy. I am being burned up by the desire to save souls. I traverse the world’s length and breadth and venture as far as its ultimate limits and its wildest lands to save souls. I do this through prayer and sacrifice. I want every soul to glorify the mercy of God, for each one experiences the effects of that mercy on himself. The Saints in heaven worship the mercy of the Lord. I want to worship it even now, here on earth, and to spread devotion to it in the way that God demands of me.

I have understood that at certain and most difficult moments I shall be alone, deserted by everyone, and that I must face all the storms and fight with all the strength of my soul, even with those from whom I expected to get help. But I am not alone, because Jesus is with me, and with Him I fear nothing. I am well aware of everything, and I know what God is demanding of me. Suffering, contempt, ridicule, persecution and humiliation will be my constant lot. I know no other way. For sincere love – ingratitude; this is my path, marked out by the footprints of Jesus.
My Jesus, my strength and my only hope, in You alone is all my hope. My trust will not be frustrated.

The day of renewal of vows [Friday, October 30, 1936]. God’s presence pervades my soul, not only in a spiritual way, but I feel it in a physical way also.

November 2, 1936. In the evening after Vespers, I went to the cemetery in the sister’s park. I had been praying for a while when I saw one of our sisters, who said to me, “We are in the chapel.” I understood that I was to go to the chapel and there pray and gain the indulgences. The next day, during Holy Mass, I saw three white doves soaring from the altar toward heaven. I understood that not only the three souls that I saw had gone to heaven, but also many others who had died beyond the confines of our institute. Oh, how good and merciful is the Lord.

Conversation with Father Andrasz, at the end of the retreat. I was greatly surprised by one thing that I noticed during each conversation in the course of which I had asked advice and direction of Father Andrasz, and it is this: I noticed that Father Andrasz answered all my questions about things which the Lord had asked of me so clearly and with such assurance that it was as though he were experiencing it all himself. O my Jesus, if only there were more spiritual directors of this kind, souls under such guidance would very quickly reach the summits of sanctity and would not waste such great graces. I give unceasing thanks to God for so great a grace; namely, that in His great goodness He has deigned to place these pillars of light along the path of my spiritual life. They light my way so that I do not go astray or become delayed in my journey toward close union with the Lord. I have a great love for the Church, which educates souls and leads them to God.

October 31, 1936. Conversation with Mother General [Michael]. When I was talking to Mother General about the question of my leaving the order, I received this answer: “If Jesus demand of you that you leave this Congregation, let Him give me some sign that this is His will. Sister, pray for such a sign, because I am worried lest you should fall prey to some illusion. On the other hand, I would not want to hinder or oppose the will of God, for I too want to do the will of God.” And so, we agreed that I will remain just as I am, until such time as the Lord will let Mother General know that He demands that I leave this congregation. And so the matter was put off for a while.

And so You see, Jesus, that everything is now up to You. I am perfectly at peace, despite these great urgings. For my part, I have done everything, and it is now Your turn, my Jesus, and in this way Your cause will be made apparent. I am totally in accord with your will; do with me as You please, O Lord, but only grant me the grace of loving You more and more ardently. This is what is most precious to me. I desire nothing but You, O Love eternal! It matters not along what paths You will lead me, paths of pain or paths of joy. I want to love You at every moment of my life. If You tell me to leave, O Jesus, in order to carry out Your will, I will leave. If you tell me to stay, I will stay. It matters not what I will suffer, in the one instance or the other. O my Jesus, if I leave, I know what I shall have to suffer and endure. I agreed to this with full awareness, and I have already accepted it by an act of the will. It does not matter what the chalice holds for me. It is enough for me to know that it has been given to me by the loving hand of God. If you tell me to turn back and stay, I will stay in spite of all the interior urgings. If You still keep them in my soul and leave me in this inner agony even to the end of my life, I accept this in the full consciousness of my will and in loving submission to You, O my God. If I stay, I shall hide myself in Your mercy, My God, so deeply that no human eye will see me. Throughout my life, I want to be a thurible filled with hidden fire, and may the smoke rising up to You, O Living Host, be pleasing to You. I feel in my own heart that every little sacrifice arouses the fire of my love for You, but in such a silent and secret way that no one will detect it.


When I told Mother General that the Lord wanted the Congregation to say the chaplet in order to propitiate God’s anger, Mother told me that at present she could not introduce new prayers that had not yet been approved… “but give me the chaplet, sister, she said; perhaps it can be said during an adoration. We shall see. It would be good if Father Sopocko could publish a pamphlet with the chaplet; then it would be better and easier to recite it in the Congregation, for it is a bit difficult to do so now.”

The mercy of the Lord is praised by the holy souls in heaven who have themselves experienced that infinite mercy. What these souls do in heaven, I already will begin to do here on earth. I will praise God for His infinite goodness, and I will strive to bring other souls to know and glorify the inexpressible and incomprehensible mercy of God.

The Lord’s promise: The souls that will say this chaplet will be embraced by My mercy during their lifetime and especially at the hour of their death.

O my Jesus, teach me to open the bosom of mercy and love to everyone who asks for it. Jesus, my commander, teach me so that all my prayers and deeds may bear the sail of Your Mercy.

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