Church Position On Diary Of Saint Maria Faustina

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I’ve been reading the stunning Diary Of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Talk about a page turner! Almost every entry touches some emotion - the infinite love of Jesus for every soul, the paltriness of my love in return, humble gratitude in conjunction with overwhelming sorrow for His horrible passion and cruel death, remorse over one’s sins which Jesus tells Saint Faustina continue to inflict the agony of the scourging, Saint Faustina’s joy in taking on intense physical and spiritual suffering for souls, and much more.

However, this is a woman claiming to have numerous visions of Jesus and direct conversations with Him. It is my understanding that any visionary revelations beyond those of Revelation are deemed “private revelations”, which the Church may deem worthy of belief but are not to be considered authenticated by the Church. I believe even the Fatima apparitions, despite the well documented “miracle of the dancing sun”, are still just considered non-authenticated private revelations.

On the other hand, the Diary Of St Faustina has been given a Nihil Obstat and an Imprimatur - free from doctrinal and moral error - and Pope JP II canonized Sister Faustina, encouraged veneration of the Devine Mercy painting and instituted the Feast Of Devine Mercy. By doing so has the Church authenticated the messages and visions?

This Saint has brought me deeper into the faith and I have begun paying more attention to even the smallest of my transgressions and praying for souls on a daily basis. This won’t change even if the messages and visions are deemed private revelation, but I would like to know Church’s official position.

BTW in case I’ve been too vague :), I highly recommend reading The Diary Of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska for the sake of the living souls you love, the souls you grieve for, and “those of the whole world”.

I got mine from Amazon, $7.95 and nicely wrapped in cellophane

Thanks in advance for any replies

Jerry
Yes, it truly is an amazing book. It truly shows the infinite mercy and infinite love that God has toward mankind. I have read part of it but not all of it. I will try to finish it when the time comes.

God bless.
 
Among the unforgivable sins (sins against the Holy Spirit) there are two opposites: the desperation and the presumption. The first says that not matter what one does the total destruction up to the eternal death is inevitable; the second assures that we should not worry, let be happy, God’s mercy will provide us the salvation.

St Faustine herself understood this dialectic, and her diary shows a good balance between the desperation and the presumption.

I am not sure at all, that in our time to emphasize the mercy is God’s will. The presumption is rampant: confession is not necessary, omitting Sunday Mass is not mortal sin, the sexual sins are mostly venial sins the communion gives forgiveness, hell is a cursing word to be avoided in the sermons; and on the other side anyone can judge the pope and the bishops through his/her logic, we know the good and evil.

I am Catholic and strictly believe that Christ stands with the decision of His vicar, and He turns it good as much as possible; but the decision itself did not helped to restore the lost balance between the presumption and desperation.

Traditionally the Second Sunday after Easter was the Good Pastor Sunday. We all prayed for the priestly vocations and remembered what the priesthood means: the representative of Jesus who offers His sacrifice and who as the representative of Christ forgives our sins in the confession. I have serious doubt that to turn the spirit of penitence and sacrifice to the happiness of radiating mercy was a necessary step; and I believe that St Faustina herself would be terrified by this concept

Once more: God stands behind His vicar, but does not prevent wrong decisions, He gave freedom for everyone, and he do not micromanages every actions.
 
Among the unforgivable sins (sins against the Holy Spirit) there are two opposites: the desperation and the presumption. The first says that not matter what one does the total destruction up to the eternal death is inevitable; the second assures that we should not worry, let be happy, God’s mercy will provide us the salvation.

St Faustine herself understood this dialectic, and her diary shows a good balance between the desperation and the presumption.

I am not sure at all, that in our time to emphasize the mercy is God’s will. The presumption is rampant: confession is not necessary, omitting Sunday Mass is not mortal sin, the sexual sins are mostly venial sins the communion gives forgiveness, hell is a cursing word to be avoided in the sermons; and on the other side anyone can judge the pope and the bishops through his/her logic, we know the good and evil.

I am Catholic and strictly believe that Christ stands with the decision of His vicar, and He turns it good as much as possible; but the decision itself did not helped to restore the lost balance between the presumption and desperation.

Traditionally the Second Sunday after Easter was the Good Pastor Sunday. We all prayed for the priestly vocations and remembered what the priesthood means: the representative of Jesus who offers His sacrifice and who as the representative of Christ forgives our sins in the confession. I have serious doubt that to turn the spirit of penitence and sacrifice to the happiness of radiating mercy was a necessary step; and I believe that St Faustina herself would be terrified by this concept

Once more: God stands behind His vicar, but does not prevent wrong decisions, He gave freedom for everyone, and he do not micromanages every actions.
I won’t be able to reply after this laszlo - and it’s nothing personal. I’m unsubscribing after this as I was thinking of doing, so I won’t be aware of any comments posted afterwards. I might be able to clarify my view for you on a couple of things:

I agree totally that we aren’t receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation enough and that in our world (even our own parishes sometimes) there is a denial of sin, satan, Hell… Yet we can’t even begin to explain our own salvation or eschatology without it. It is indeed lamentable. throw in a few things like drug addiction, abortion, pornography, and our souls can end up in a very wretched state. This can lead to despair.

I’m struggling to see how you might’ve actually read St. Faustina’s diary in depth because your comments are coming from the periphery. The type of mercy you are alluding to does not appear anywhere in the diary and seems to identify with this false notion of mercy held by the majority of the world and by many believers. Divine Mercy isn’t the problem. Humankind’s erroneous notion of it … of non- accountability… is the problem. Moral relativism doesn’t reflect God’s Mercy in the very least.

A soul in a wretched state ,who is in despair over it’s own sins, needs to know there is still hope. Maybe you have been blessed enough to never have been in such a state. I, on the other hand have been in such a state, and I don’t think I could begin to describe for you the amount of solace and courage I found in Christ’s words to St. Faustina :

“Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins were as scarlet” They are an accurate reflection of John 6:37 .

I will have to continue in a second post, because leaving your quote intact has limited the amount of characters I may enter on this post …
 
Among the unforgivable sins (sins against the Holy Spirit) there are two opposites: the desperation and the presumption. The first says that not matter what one does the total destruction up to the eternal death is inevitable; the second assures that we should not worry, let be happy, God’s mercy will provide us the salvation.
.
Right off the top I would have to disagree with you. The unforgivable sin (Christ mentioned one sin that could be forgiven- not multiple sins) against the Holy Spirit is refusal of God’s Mercy with complete knowledge of this act’s consequences. Desperation and presumption would imply that a soul might not have complete knowledge of the consequences of such an act or that it was under duress when the act was carried out. When we refuse God’s Mercy when He offers it to us with full knowledge of the consequences, He cannot transgress our free will – we negate His saving power for us through our own will (“… both in this age and in the age to come” – Purgatory).
…I am not sure at all, that in our time to emphasize the mercy is God’s will. The presumption is rampant: confession is not necessary, omitting Sunday Mass is not mortal sin, the sexual sins are mostly venial sins the communion gives forgiveness, hell is a cursing word to be avoided in the sermons;…
Here are some quotes from St. Faustina’s diary corresponding to the very things you are lamenting above (links provided at the end of the post) :

“I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell (…). 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 noticed that there are most souls that did not believe hell exists. I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there!” (Diary 741).

“Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish my graces upon them, and they do not want to accept them….In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is but a feeble image and likeness of My love.”

“My daughter, write that it pains Me very much when religious souls receive the Sacrament of Love merely out of habit, as if they did not distinguish this food. I find neither faith nor love in their hearts. I go to such souls with great reluctance. It would be better if they did not receive Me.”

“I desire to unite Myself with human souls; My great delight is to unite Myself with souls. Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize Love! They treat Me as a dead object.”
“I thirst, thirst for the salvation of souls. Help Me, My daughter, to save souls. Join your sufferings to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners.”

“…when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flow down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you.”

“… Know that as often as you come to Me, humbling yourself and asking for forgiveness, I pour out a superabundance of graces on your soul, and your imperfection vanishes before My eyes, and I see only your love and humility. You lose nothing but gain much…"
I have serious doubt that to turn the spirit of penitence and sacrifice to the happiness of radiating mercy was a necessary step; and I believe that St Faustina herself would be terrified by this concept
What happiness of radiating Mercy ? If you have read the diary and even only the quotes from the diary above instead of trying to comment from just looking at the image of the Divine Mercy, I don’t see how you can misconstrue it so badly.

After her visit to Purgatory and witnessing the suffering of the souls there , Jesus told St. Faustina , “My Mercy does not desire this but my Justice demands it.”

There is so much more in the diary. St. Faustina’s writings present God’s Holy Mercy in it’s proper perspective ; the same perspective St. Thomas Aquinas expressed when he said, Mercy does not deny Justice , Mercy presupposes Justice.

one more continuation
 
Several more quotes :

“….you always please me with your humility. The greatest misery does not stop Me from uniting Myself to a soul, but where there is pride, I am not there.”
“Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart… When will it beat for Me? Write that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want” (Diary 1728).

“God never violates our free will. It is up to us whether we want to receive God’s grace or not. It is up to us whether we will cooperate with it or waste it” (Diary 1107).

I apologize but I haven’t been too successful in finding the parts of Saint Faustina’s diary which disagree with what you’re saying…with what you’re lamenting.

Perhaps I might recommend you read St. Faustina’s diary a second time and see if it says anything different to you. As far as I can tell, the diary is in agreement with all the things you assume it not to be in agreement with.

As far as the less than likely assertions that Pope John Paul II only ordained St. Faustina because she was Polish, can’t you see the sickness in that ? Whoever said that is only one step away from saying a derogatory thing about St. Edith Stein and her ethnic background … proof that being able to use a computer and a keyboard don’t always necessarily indicate intelligence. You see I frankly find it almost a completely useless practice, in the case of canonizations, to try and predict what was going on in the mind of the pope, when we humans remain rarely capable of completely sorting out what is even going on in our own minds.

God Bless you laszlo. As I said earlier, I won’t be aware of anything following my post on this thread. I’m unsubscribing. I’m not referring to you at all here, but I don’t think I’ll do too well emotionally if I have to read any more unqualified comments … See you in another thread.

Links to the quotes: here
here
and here
 
As I said earlier, I won’t be aware of anything following my post on this thread. I’m unsubscribing. I’m not referring to you at all here, but I don’t think I’ll do too well emotionally if I have to read any more unqualified comments … See you in another thread.
I will pray for you. It must be deep problem if someone
  • is unable to face the opinion of others
  • and tries to convince oneself that the answer is unqualified anyway.
 
Yes, normally private revelations are only judged as, at best, “not conflicting”, and “worthy of belief”, but it would seem to me that when the Church includes a “private revelation” in the Church calendar (eg. Feast of Divine Mercy, Feast of the Sacred Heart, Feast of Our Lady of Fatima) then it has endorsed the revelation with the highest authority.
No disrespect intended, but the revelation with the highest authority is public revelation, I.E. the Bible, Dogmas, the Creed, etc. Everything else, including Marian apparitions, the diary of St. Faustina, etc. is still private revelation. the Church grants that we are free to believe or disbelieve. That is not to say that it is not beneficial though, but it doesn’t hold the same as public revelation. A key distinction should be made.
 
…She spelled everything phonetically and in polish…
Just for the record - everything in Polish is spelled phonetically. The Polish language has a very regular orthography. A Polish Spelling Bee would be extremely boring because it would take a long time for any child to be eliminated.
 
I wonder if some of the concerns with Faustyna arise from the translation? We discussed it some earlier on a related thread here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=448505

I admit I haven’t read the whole diary in Polish yet (maybe I should do that now), but in my view the diary includes both bits of prose and poetry, and while the prose is fairly straightforward stuff - it probably did not pose a lot of difficulty in translation - the poetry, on the other hand, is more problematic. The translator has to decide whether to go for a more literal rendition, striving to impart meaning, or whether it is more important to go for artistic effect. In my view, a reader should recognize that the poetic bits are poetry, and not get too wrapped around the axle on the theology. This is not to say theology isn’t important, but I think its safe to say that the author didn’t intend to write a theology text in hexameter and couplets with end-rhyme.
 
I wonder if some of the concerns with Faustyna arise from the translation? We discussed it some earlier on a related thread here:
This could be the case. I know at least, there were significant changes made simply in the Divine Mercy Novena prayer that change its tone.
 
My understanding is that the original tranlation from Polish into Italian that was sent to the Holy See was very confusing. The translator mixed up the pronouns fror the 1st, 2d & 3rd person & no one could understand if some of the dialogue came from Jesus or St. Faustina…In that condition, it was placed on the Index. Later when JP2, then a Bishop, went to Rome, he questioned why the Cause was not moving forward, etc. & they presented him w/the poorly translated manuscript. He saw to it that a good translator took up the original & presented the Holy See w/an accurate translation. It was then, that the book was removed from the Index. However, Faustina herself had to go thru the whole beatification process wherein it was shown that she practiced virtue to a heroic degree. Also, she had to have the required miracles for each step of the process. So it is not the Diary or the Visions that made her a Saint, but her personal life. This is true for all the Saints. No one is ever canonized for what he or she wrote or did, but for the sanctity of their everyday life & practice of virtue. No visions/apparitions after the close of the Apostolic Era are part of Public or Divine Revelation. That ended w/the death of St. John the Evangelist, the last Apostle to die. All else is considered private revelation & has no binding effect on the the Faithful. However, due to the nature of some private revelation, it
has gained a stronger following within the Church: Fatima, Lourdes, Rue de Bac, LaSalette, Diviine Mercy, the Sacred Hearts (st. Margaret Mary), etc…
 
My understanding is that the original tranlation from Polish into Italian that was sent to the Holy See was very confusing. The translator mixed up the pronouns fror the 1st, 2d & 3rd person & no one could understand if some of the dialogue came from Jesus or St. Faustina…In that condition, it was placed on the Index. Later when JP2, then a Bishop, went to Rome, he questioned why the Cause was not moving forward, etc. & they presented him w/the poorly translated manuscript. He saw to it that a good translator took up the original & presented the Holy See w/an accurate translation. It was then, that the book was removed from the Index. However, Faustina herself had to go thru the whole beatification process wherein it was shown that she practiced virtue to a heroic degree. Also, she had to have the required miracles for each step of the process. So it is not the Diary or the Visions that made her a Saint, but her personal life. This is true for all the Saints. No one is ever canonized for what he or she wrote or did, but for the sanctity of their everyday life & practice of virtue. No visions/apparitions after the close of the Apostolic Era are part of Public or Divine Revelation. That ended w/the death of St. John the Evangelist, the last Apostle to die. All else is considered private revelation & has no binding effect on the the Faithful. However, due to the nature of some private revelation, it
has gained a stronger following within the Church: Fatima, Lourdes, Rue de Bac, LaSalette, Diviine Mercy, the Sacred Hearts (st. Margaret Mary), etc…
 
Is her diary available in print, and if so does anyone know where to find it? Thanks!
 
The Church position about any private revelation is clear

The fact that the feast of Divine Mercy was included into the calendar does not gives any special position to the diary of S. Faustina. The diary has many thoughts, insights, etc. the Divine Mercy is a clear Catholic teaching much before she lived. It was popularized e.g. by S Margaret Alaquoque in the 17th Century
I think that the fact that the feast day was introduced into the Church is significant, because Jesus specifically asked for this in the Diary… by making this feast day, the Church implicitly said that the message is true and agreed that this is indeed God’s will
I just finished reading this book, which I have been told was amazing. But I hated it! The Jesus she describes is so cruel and so opposite of the Jesus I know. Sure, He asks me to go out of my way to help others a lot and sometimes I give away my money when I suppose I should be saving but the things he supposedly says and does to Faustina are OOC (out of control!). I mean, He does give her many graces but He’s also pretty mean. And petty. I like ‘my’ Jesus way better. Plus, not to be rude or to offend anyone but I think she was crazy.

Jen
Jen, I’m not really sure why you would say that… yes St Faustina suffered but that’s because it’s a gift to share in Christ’s Cross. I actually found Him in the book to be the opposite of what you described… I found Him to be very kind and compassionate, and the book helped me against despair many times 🙂
Among the unforgivable sins (sins against the Holy Spirit) there are two opposites: the desperation and the presumption. The first says that not matter what one does the total destruction up to the eternal death is inevitable; the second assures that we should not worry, let be happy, God’s mercy will provide us the salvation.

St Faustine herself understood this dialectic, and her diary shows a good balance between the desperation and the presumption.

I am not sure at all, that in our time to emphasize the mercy is God’s will. The presumption is rampant: confession is not necessary, omitting Sunday Mass is not mortal sin, the sexual sins are mostly venial sins the communion gives forgiveness, hell is a cursing word to be avoided in the sermons; and on the other side anyone can judge the pope and the bishops through his/her logic, we know the good and evil.

I am Catholic and strictly believe that Christ stands with the decision of His vicar, and He turns it good as much as possible; but the decision itself did not helped to restore the lost balance between the presumption and desperation.

Traditionally the Second Sunday after Easter was the Good Pastor Sunday. We all prayed for the priestly vocations and remembered what the priesthood means: the representative of Jesus who offers His sacrifice and who as the representative of Christ forgives our sins in the confession. I have serious doubt that to turn the spirit of penitence and sacrifice to the happiness of radiating mercy was a necessary step; and I believe that St Faustina herself would be terrified by this concept

Once more: God stands behind His vicar, but does not prevent wrong decisions, He gave freedom for everyone, and he do not micromanages every actions.
I agree that in our time there’s a disregard for penance, Confession, etc, but I don’t think this is what the Divine Mercy devotion encourages… in fact there are many quotes in the Diary about sin and hell and repentance, humility… in some cases, it is implied that by understanding God’s mercy, people would be moved to repentance. I think that’s why there’s such an emphasis on mercy… as well as helping those who are despairing - often people struggle with this too.

When we hear about how much God loves us and His mercy, it is easier to be moved to repentance and to give up sin, and also to see our errors… of course, provided we are open to His grace

God bless
 
When we hear about how much God loves us and His mercy, it is easier to be moved to repentance and to give up sin, and also to see our errors… of course, provided we are open to His grace

God bless
Im am now studying the Book of Jeremias, the Prophet. He witnessed the extermination of the Jewish Kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the next king from the House of David some 600 years later. On the time of Jeremias Jews were taken to the captivity.

Did God love the Jews? Was God merciful to the Jews?

One more thought. In the Divine Mercy image with radiating grace.

The light and heath radiating from the Sun. Does it makes any difference on the space? The answer is nothing, it goes through the space unchanged, a receptacle, a body is needed for effect. The Divine Mercy is effective only if we have mercy for others. Do we?
 
Im am now studying the Book of Jeremias, the Prophet. He witnessed the extermination of the Jewish Kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the next king from the House of David some 600 years later. On the time of Jeremias Jews were taken to the captivity.

Did God love the Jews? Was God merciful to the Jews?
Yes, God loved the Jews… but it’s difficult to compare the OT and today… in the OT, people’s relationship with God was very different, it was mostly based on justice… now is the time for mercy - after the Cross, before the Last Judgement. God doesn’t change but our relationship with Him changes. Today, He decided to reveal His mercy to us through St Faustina and others… 🙂
One more thought. In the Divine Mercy image with radiating grace.
The light and heath radiating from the Sun. Does it makes any difference on the space? The answer is nothing, it goes through the space unchanged, a receptacle, a body is needed for effect. The Divine Mercy is effective only if we have mercy for others. Do we?
well this is what Jesus told St Faustina too, in the Diary, that we will receive mercy if we show mercy through deeds, words, and prayers - and primarily though deeds

God bless 🙂
 
The fact that the book was on the firbidden book list for over twenty years would seem to indicate that at some in the Church questioned its veracity at thetime, and I am pretty sure they read it prior to banning it.

As I said, I am just pointing out things that are often overlooked as far as the diary is concerned.
Do you know that in the first inaccurate transcripts after Fautina’s death, entire pages were omitted, whole sentences and a great many of the words were left out or substituted, causing confusion in essential matters of the text. After studying these incomplete and inaccurate accounts of Faustina’s visions and mission, the Holy See prohibited further spread of the message and devotion.

"Because of the positive outcome of the Informative Process, inquiries from many places — especially from Poland, the Marians in the U.S., and in particular from Cardinal Wojtyla — were sent to the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They asked whether the prohibitions of the 1959 “Notification” were still in effect. In response to these inquiries, the Vatican Congregation issued a new “Notification” dated April 15, 1978, which stated:
Code:
This Sacred Congregation, having now in [its] possession the many original documents, unknown in 1959; having taken into consideration the profoundly changed circumstances, and having taken into account the opinion of many Polish Ordinaries, declares no longer binding the prohibitions contained in the quoted "Notification" [of 1959]."
See the following LINK for more information.

God bless all 🙂
 
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