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ENTRIES ON PURGATORY FROM:

"THE DIARY OF ST. FAUSTINA KOWALSKA"



Reflections by Msgr. Josefino Ramirez, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Manila

PWHS LENTEN RECOLLECTION - March 2, 2002



ST. FAUSTINA was the first saint canonized (April 30, 2000) by Pope John Paul II, her countryman, in the third millennium, which earned her the title "The Saint of the Third Millennium." She is the saint for our times. As Pope John Paul II said and according to the messages of our Lord as revealed to St. Faustina, these are urgent times. In these times mankind truly needs the mercy of God. The mercy of God is our only hope.

What is the meaning of "the mercy of God?" St. Thomas Aquinas defined "mercy" as "love undeserved." We do not deserve to be loved by God anymore because of our sins. But still God is faithful to us. He continues to love us. And that love is called "mercy." However, our Lord said: "After the period of mercy will follow My justice." God’s mercy is not limitless. The time of justice will come. So, while we still have the chance, our Lord tells us to keep asking for the mercy of God. The ABC of the devotion is:

Ask constantly for the mercy of God.

Be merciful, as the Lord is merciful to us. Forgive your enemies, help the poor, love everyone.

Complete trust in God.

This is the complete diary of St. Faustina (holding up a copy of the diary). I am going to read quotations from her diary about the souls in purgatory.



Diary No. 20

(Vision of Purgatory)

"One day I asked the Lord, ‘Lord, who else should I pray for?’ Jesus said that on the following night He would let me know for whom I should always pray for.

The following night, I saw my Guardian Angel who asked me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her ‘The Star of the Sea.’ She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of the prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice] which said, My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls."

Justice demands that we cannot enter heaven unless we have fully paid our debts. That is why, while still here on earth, let us begin to pay for our debts. When we go to confession, we are asked to say penance, and that’s it. That is not enough. We have to make reparation. It is not enough to pray three Our Fathers and then no more. The goodness of God cannot be satisfied just like that. That’s why the need for us to offer daily our sufferings, offer daily our trials for the poor souls and, especially, for our own souls to shorten our stay in Purgatory.

"Since that time I am always in closer communion with the suffering souls."

This is when her devotion began. These souls are helpless by themselves. They depend on us for help. They are called ‘poor souls’ because they have to depend on us. And they are suffering because they are not yet in the state of eternal happiness.

That is the vision of Sis. Faustina, and it is sanctioned by the Church. This is what we are trying to spread to as many as possible so that we can begin to pray for our departed loved ones who are still in Purgatory, still prisoners, but who will surely be released one day, if we persevere on praying.



St. Faustina Kowalska

Diary No. 58

"One night, a sister who had died two months previously came to me. She was a sister of the first choir. I saw her in a terrible condition, all in flames with her face painfully distorted. This lasted only a short time, and then she disappeared. A shudder went through my soul because I did not know whether she was suffering in purgatory or in hell. Nevertheless, I redoubled my prayers for her. The next night she came again, but I saw her in an even more horrible state, in the midst of flames which were even more intense, and despair was written all over her face. I was astonished to see her in a worse condition after the prayers I had offered for her, and I asked, ‘Haven’t my prayers helped you?’ She answered that my prayers had not helped her and that nothing would help her. I said to her, ‘And the prayers which the whole community has offered for you, have they not been any help to you?’ She said no, that these prayers have helped some other souls. I replied, ‘If my prayers are not helping you, Sister, please stop coming to me.’ She disappeared at once. Despite this, I kept on praying.

"After some time she came back again to me during the night, but already her appearance had changed. There were no longer any flames, as there had been before, and her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy. She told me that I had a true love for my neighbor and that many other souls had profited from my prayers. She urged me not to cease praying for the souls in purgatory, and she added that she herself would not remain there much longer. How astounding are the decrees of God!"

REFLECTIONS

So do not pray for only one, because God applies your prayers first for those souls who have been there for a long time. When we pray for the souls, we must always pray at the end: "May her soul (or their souls) and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace." The lesson here is we should always pray for all the souls in purgatory. In the mass, there is a part where we remember all those who have died in the hope of rising again. Can you imagine how many remember their departed? How many are still praying for their departed loved ones? That is why this apostolate is a big help for the souls in purgatory, because now people are being made aware of their state and we are now starting to pray for all of them.



Diary No. 314

"When I went to the garden one afternoon, my Guardian Angel said to me, ‘Pray for the dying.’ So I began at once to pray the Rosary with the gardeners for the dying. After the Rosary, we said different prayers for the dying. After the prayers, the wards began to talk among themselves. In spite of that noise, I heard these words in my soul, ‘Pray for me.’ But as I could not understand these words very well, I moved a few steps away trying to think who it could be was asking me to pray. Then I heard the words, ‘I am Sis. (blank). The sister was in Warsaw while I was at the time in Vilnius. The sister said, ‘Pray for me until I tell you to stop. I am dying at this moment.’ Immediately, I began to pray fervently for her to the Expiring Heart of Jesus. I kept praying from 3 o’clock until 5. At five I heard the words, ‘Thank you, sister’, and I understood that she had died. During the holy mass on the following day, I continued to pray fervently for her soul. In the afternoon, a postcard came saying that Sister had died at such and such a time. I understood that it was at that same hour when she had said to me, ‘Pray for me.’"



REFLECTIONS

So we have to pray, not only for the dead, but especially for the dying, because the evil one is there near the death bed trying to snatch away the soul of the dying person away from God as that would be the only moment left for him to snatch that soul away from God.

And so Our Lord told Sis. Faustina, "Teach others to pray the chaplet when someone is dying." And she was given a vision of somebody who was dying while Sis. Faustina was praying the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. And what happened? All the demons fled away!



Diary No. 412



"There was no one in the chapel so I got up, picked up the pieces of the flower pot, repotted the flower, and tried to do all these before anyone came in. But I did not manage to do so, a Mother Superior came in at that moment, together with the sister sacristan and several other sisters. Mother Superior was surprised that I had been touching something at the altar and thus caused the flower to fall. Sister Sacristan showed her displeasure and I did my best not to explain or excuse myself. But, towards evening, I was exhausted and could not make my holy hour, so I asked Mother Superior to allow me to go to bed early. I fell asleep as soon as I laid down, but at about eleven o’clock Satan shook my bed. I awoke instantly and I started to pray peacefully to my Guardian Angel. Then I saw the souls who are doing penance in Purgatory. They appeared like shadows and among them I saw many demons. One of these tried to vex me, taking the form of a cat. He kept pawing on to my bed and on my feet and he was quite heavy, as if weighing a ton. I kept praying the Rosary all the while and, toward dawn, these beings vanished. And I was able to get some sleep.

When I entered the chapel in the morning, I heard a voice in my soul, You are united to me, fear nothing. But know, my child, that Satan hates you. He hates every soul, but he burns with a particular hatred for you, because you have snatched so many souls from his dominion."



REFLECTIONS

The message is: Satan is very mad at us, because we are able to bring many souls to God. So be very careful, be strong. If God is with us, who can be against us? That is what Our Lord told Sis. Faustina. "Satan hates you because you are always praying for souls to be saved." So, when the devil comes to deceive us, be ready. It is part of the game, because we are all fighting for Jesus. So, listen to the consoling words of Jesus: "I am always with you, fear nothing."



Diary No. 515



"In the evening, when I was walking in the garden saying my rosary and came to the cemetery, I opened the gate a little and began to pray for a while, and I asked them interiorly, ‘You are very happy are you not?’ Then I heard the words, ‘We are happy in the measure that we have fulfilled God’s will’ – and then silence as before. I became introspective and reflected for a long time on how I am fulfilling God’s will and how I am profiting from the time that God has given me."



REFLECTIONS

"We are happy in the measure that we have fulfilled God’s will." Sis. Faustina immediately tried to reflect on whether she was doing the will of God. That is also what we should always bear in mind and strive to do – to do the will of God. "Not my will but Thy will be done." We should always remember that God is a loving Father and God knows what is best for us. Not everything that we want is good for us. So, we must allow God to take control of our lives.

This devotion spreads very fast in the Philippines. In the olden days, whenever you ask a person, "how are you," the answer would be, "By the mercy of God, I am still alive" Our grandmother would always say, "With the mercy of God, we will get through this." They were always thinking of God, of our dependence on the mercy of God. What is important is we surrender our will to God. "Lord, let Your will be done. You know what is best for me."

Mother Teresa used to pray, not dictating on God, but asking God, "Lord, help me to love You more. Lord, help me not to sin against You. Lord, help me to do Your will." Is this how we pray? Maybe, it is time we make this our priority in life, because those who have gone before us say that their happiness depends on how much they had done the will of God.

So, during this Lenten recollection, let us try to reflect on this very important point and start praying for the grace to do always the Will of God, because in purgatory, it is the only basis for happiness. (see also related article on Luisa Piccaretta, Daughter of the Divine Will )



Diary No. 517



"Once when visiting a sick sister who was 84 and known for many virtues, I asked her, ‘Sister, you are surely ready to stand before the Lord, are you not?’ She answered, ‘I have been preparing all my life long for this last hour.’ And then she added, ‘Old age does not dispense one from the combat.’"

"I am the Way, I am the Truth, believe in me." Jesus said; "You will die, you do not know when. Like a thief in the night I will come to call you." That is the last secret. We know that there is a heaven, we know how to get to heaven, but Jesus did not say "when I will call you so you know when I will come."



REFLECTIONS

That is the lesson that Sis. Faustina learned from the old nun when she said, "all these years I have been preparing for the last hour." Do not forget that last hour. Blessed John XXIII said, "My luggage are ready. I am ready to leave. Into Your hands I commend my spirit." Pope Paul VI said to his secretary, "Pray that I may not betray Jesus until the end." A pope, but he was humble enough to ask his secretary to pray, because he knew Satan would be active at the last moment.

Jesus said, "As you live, so you will die." So, if you are full of love to our Lord while living, you will die a happy death. "If you recognize Me before men, I will also recognize you before My Father in heaven." These are promises of Jesus, not the promises of a politician. This is the promise of Jesus, who is Truth Himself. So the old sister is teaching us everything we should do in preparation for that last hour.



Diary No. 518



"Before All Souls’ Day, I went to the cemetery at dusk. Although it was locked I managed to open the gate a bit and said, ‘If you need something, my dear little souls, I will be glad to help you to the extent that the rule permits me.’ I then heard these words, ‘Do the will of God. We are happy in the measure that we have fulfilled God’s will.’"



REFLECTIONS

This is the same message that was told to her by another sister. It boils down to the same message – doing the Will of God is the most important thing that we have to do.



(For the information of our readers, other diary entries on Purgatory are: Diary No. 519, 520, 860, 974-975, 1219-1229, 1723. ED.)

Transcribed by:

Edna Agustin

PWHS Core Group Member