Confusion over St. Faustina's Diary; clarification appreciated

[Abiding_in_Love]

I’m interested in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and like the Image, but I’m confused about some of the things I’ve read in the Diary.

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.

“From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (ibid., p. 168)

‘You will not be judged’ confuses me.

“And the host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed it back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (ibid., p. 23)

This is before the indult for reception of Holy Communion in the hand.

 

[pianistclare]

I’m interested in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and like the Image, but I’m confused about some of the things I’ve read in the Diary.

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.
Many books are filled with flowery language. It means He finds her life pleasing.

“From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (ibid., p. 168)

‘You will not be judged’ confuses me.
Same answer.

“And the host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed it back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (ibid., p. 23)

This is before the indult for reception of Holy Communion in the hand.

The Lord can do as He pleases. He is not bound by the rules of man.

 

[friardchips]

I’m interested in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and like the Image, but I’m confused about some of the things I’ve read in the Diary.

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.

“From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (ibid., p. 168)

‘You will not be judged’ confuses me.

“And the host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed it back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (ibid., p. 23)

This is before the indult for reception of Holy Communion in the hand.

I wonder sometimes whether there were translation problems in writing out her words.

Sometimes I read things that cause me to stop and question. But still, one can interpret her writing, in the right way. We have to read her diary in the light of faith.

Her words are profoundly mystical and reach the depths of what most humans would not go. I love her Diary and would recommend it to people.

As for this:

“As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.”

Maybe St. Faustina meant no other creature while she was alive, but whether yay or nay, we obviously know this does not surpass Our Lady, in depth of grace, anyway. She would not have meant it to include Our Lady. Maybe she was so in love with Jesus that she just wrote spontaneously what she was feeling in her heart.

Either way, don’t let these occasional question marks stop you from continuing. Just interpret them as they are meant.

 

[DanielStDominic]

There’s good news! The Church has thoroughly reviewed all of this from a theological perspective, and has found nothing therein that is problematic. So of course, the first step is to conclude that any misunderstanding that we might have is a fault in our own knowledge rather than in the diary.

To offer just one interpretation, let’s turn to paragraph 707.

It seems you’re understanding the text to read, “I am uniting myself with you more intimately than with any other creature.” But that’s not what it says. “As with no other creature” is true not only for the Saint, but for all of the Blessed in heaven, each of whom have a completely unique share in the Beatific Vision. Christ’s intimacy with Faustina resulted from her fruitful charity, and it was an intimacy that was designed only for her, and which no one else can ever experience in the same way.

 

[friardchips]

There’s good news! The Church has thoroughly reviewed all of this from a theological perspective, and has found nothing therein that is problematic. So of course, the first step is to conclude that any misunderstanding that we might have is a fault in our own knowledge rather than in the diary.

To offer just one interpretation, let’s turn to paragraph 707.

It seems you’re understanding the text to read, “I am uniting myself with you more intimately than with any other creature.” But that’s not what it says. “As with no other creature” is true not only for the Saint, but for all of the Blessed in heaven, each of whom have a completely unique share in the Beatific Vision. Christ’s intimacy with Faustina resulted from her fruitful charity, and it was an intimacy that was designed only for her, and which no one else can ever experience in the same way.

No intimacy is deeper than that of Jesus and Mary.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

I’m interested in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and like the Image, but I’m confused about some of the things I’ve read in the Diary.

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.

“From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (ibid., p. 168)

‘You will not be judged’ confuses me.

“And the host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed it back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (ibid., p. 23)

This is before the indult for reception of Holy Communion in the hand.

It is very important to remember, when one is reading the writings of mystics

1. They are endeavouring to express in human language something they experienced which utterly transcends what can be expressed in a human manner. This can involve something they experience that is inexpressible, such as the concept of the transforming union, which in turn finds attempted expression in metaphorical language. It can involve experiences perceived as visions that are made in some way apprehendable by sense perception; these mystical phenomena are also very often conveyed in images and language that are highly symbolic.
2. Many times, those chosen – such as Faustina Kowalska or Bernadette Soubirous – will be persons who are quite simple and not able to interpret the event they experience but rather transmit it without commentary. Often then such writings require much in the way of theological analysis and also interpretation…which is why they undergo such intense and prolonged scrutiny across years and decades from so many specialisations within the field of theology.
3. In private revelations, one will not infrequently encounter such superlative expressions as you enumerate in your post. It is not meant to be understood as a point of comparative analysis to, for example, what could be quantified – in so far as such thing could even be quantified – in terms of the union between the Three Divine Persons and a soul and still less a comparison and contrast between individual souls.

In this, we are arrived to an apex of the field of mystical theology.

 

[fred_conty]

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.

We have different relationships with different people.
For example, the relationship we have with an acquaintence is different from the relationship we have with a brother/sister. So her relationship with Jesus is not like any other relationship like her’s in exactly the same way.

“From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (ibid., p. 168)

‘You will not be judged’ confuses me.

She had a particular fear of not measuring up the way she felt she should. So Jesus was reasurring her that there was no problem here and that a bad judgement is not in the offing. This sense of being unfit disturbs a soul to the point of paralizing it somewhat in it’s love for Jesus. And Jesus did not want that to happen, but rather for her to feel free to come close to him and eliminate the fear of something blocking this closeness.

“And the host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed it back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (ibid., p. 23)

This is before the indult for reception of Holy Communion in the hand.

Jesus being God is not boxed in by any limitation especially by his own sacrament. Jesus wanted to show her his desire for her in this particular way because she was his special chosen one. In this way, he wanted to show how much he wished to be with her. This may seem a bit strange to us, but then again, that special love between them was very strong, and lovers don’t always do the logical thing, but rather act in symbolic ways.

 

[friardchips]

I’m interested in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and like the Image, but I’m confused about some of the things I’ve read in the Diary.

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.

“From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (ibid., p. 168)

‘You will not be judged’ confuses me.

“And the host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed it back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (ibid., p. 23)

This is before the indult for reception of Holy Communion in the hand.

Can you please give the page number for this line: ‘As with no other creature…’?

It is pointless asking for analysis to commence without the context of the paragraph in which it was being spoken being known.

 

[Vico]

Can you please give the page number for this line: ‘As with no other creature…’?

It is pointless asking for analysis to commence without the context of the paragraph in which it was being spoken being known.

Look at:
707 (143) October 2, 1 936. 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.

708 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.

 

[friardchips]

“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.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288)

‘As with no other creature’ sounds strange when He united Himself so intimately with His Blessed Mother.

Oh, you did. How did I miss that.

Well, looked it up and there is no footnote. The only explanation can be that the great saint meant “as no other creature”…born with Original Sin. Because although Our Lady was saved, both in God’s Mind and at the actual point of Conception (in existence), in fulfillment of the Resurrection, Mary would have received Divine Mercy in a different way: Mary was a fully open heart filled with God’s graces and Mercy, open to To Him completely, in pure and perfect Adoration - she was the perfect channel for God (an interesting way to write this - for the sake of giving expression to immeasurable holiness - might be to say, that Our lady was created so holy in disposition that she would be invited to give birth to the Christ-Child); whereas, St. Faustina would have been in need of continued support, thinking herself “miserable”, when in The Presence of Divine Mercy within her soul.

I don’t think St. Faustina would ever have intended Our Lady’s holiness to be compared with her own. This is faulty interpretation.

St. Faustina attended the ‘Convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy’ which was the convent she was invited to enter despite having asked at various convents first. So, it is plain to see, that by entering into Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, St. Faustina met Jesus there (with Our Lady’s Motherly Intercession) - the difference between being the Mother of God and His ‘People Israel’, and a great Saint (who is one of those People).

St. Faustina’s Diary I believe to be holy. I don’t like some of the websites that question her Diary, as they seem to be full of conspiracy theories.

 

[friardchips]

Look at:
707 (143) October 2, 1 936. 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.

708 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.

Thank you Vico! I did check but you writing the paragraph out for us helped me to see the operative words that I believe to be:

“After Holy Communion…”.

St. Faustina is talking about her union with the Lord specifically after Holy Communion , as being an experience that Jesus said, no other creature has or will experience…after Holy Communion.

This specifically means the Presence of Christ in Holy Communion, the Sacrament.

 

[Abiding_in_Love]

Thank you all very much for your feedback!

I’m guessing that “as with no other creature” can be explained like this. Mother Angelica used to explain that God loves us as though we are the only ones who ever existed, in a very individual way. Jesus could have been saying, “I am uniting Myself with you, Faustina, in a way that is unique because you are unique.” That makes sense.

As for “you will not be judged,” Sister Lucia asked Our Lady at Fatima if she, St. Jacinta, and St. Francisco would go to Heaven. She said yes. Jesus could have been saying in this case, “Don’t worry, Faustina. [To paraphrase from the Diary] I will not be the Just Judge for you, but the Merciful Savior. You will go to Heaven.”

This is very helpful. Thank you so much!