Writings of St. Faustina

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I was reading some of St. Faustina’s Diary and it made me a bit uneasy. There is a part where Jesus is supposedly telling her that she is “misery itself”. Now, if St. Faustina is misery itself, I have no hope of heaven… Would Jesus really say this to her? I get so depressed reading this book. Did she really receive messages from Jesus?
 
He also says that nothing that is asked through His mercy is denied. As long one remains in Christ’s mercy there is no need to fear losing of Heaven.

It has been some time since I read the diary, so I don’t remember about the specific part you said. But what comes to my mind, is that everyone is a fallen person needing redemption, no matter how good one thinks that is. The statement about misery is not supposed to scare, but to be humbling. If one thinks that does not need redemption, that is when he might not get saved.
 
Kateri92 said:
I was reading some of St. Faustina’s Diary and it made me a bit uneasy. There is a part where Jesus is supposedly telling her that she is “misery itself”. Now, if St. Faustina is misery itself, I have no hope of heaven… Would Jesus really say this to her? I get so depressed reading this book. Did she really receive messages from Jesus?
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If you can tell me which paragraphs or page number that is or provide the quote, it would help.

Yes, she really did receive messages, John Paul II officially approved her writings. They should not depress you or trouble you, that is a bad spirit that disturbs you.

I have read the whole book and love it. And I try to go back to it and read a small section now and then.

God Bless You!!
 
Tiago_Paolini said:
He also says that nothing that is asked through His mercy is denied. As long one remains in Christ’s mercy there is no need to fear losing of Heaven.

It has been some time since I read the diary, so I don’t remember about the specific part you said. But what comes to my mind, is that everyone is a fallen person needing redemption, no matter how good one thinks that is. The statement about misery is not supposed to scare, but to be humbling. If one thinks that does not need redemption, that is when he might not get saved.
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Yes, you make some good points!
 
(Notebook II, 881)

“my daughter what you said is true. You are very miserable, and it pleased Me to carry out this work of mercy precisely through you who is nothing but misery itself.”

I don’t understand why a saint can be considered “nothing but misery itself.” I feel like Jesus wouldn’t have said this.

If someone else had said this to her (besides Jesus) it would be considered emotional abuse. I’m just very confused about this.
 
Jesus is only saying that she is indeed full of weakness and troubles. He means miseries in that sense.

There would be no way she could carry out this work on her own, but the Grace of Jesus is going to be with her, and she will indeed carry out this work in spite of her profound weakness that she has just described to Jesus.

Hope that helps.
 
Okay, I guess that makes sense. That does give it a different meaning than I was thinking. 😃
 
I’m glad. This is a very beneficial book. I like it a lot. Feel free to PM anytime if you have a question about a paragraphs or something

God Bless!!
 
I hold St. Faustina in VERY high esteem. There are reasons why I do so. That said, I have to wonder if she suffered from some type of emotional disorder, based on some of her writings. That certainly does not make her any less Holy, and may have even contributed to her spiritual growth.

I am quite certain that, if God were to withdraw His Graces from us, we would all be nothing but pure misery. Yes, God did create us, but we do not know the details of His recipe.
 
Have we all not had days or times when we were truly miserable? Depressed? Angry? or any other negative emotion?
And, if our relationship with Jesus was such as it was with Faustina, wouldn’t he truly look at us (probably with a bit of humor) and call us miserable, cranky, moody?
Indeed, it is when we are in those miserable states we need God’s grace to get us through.
 
Kateri92 said:
Okay, I guess that makes sense. That does give it a different meaning than I was thinking. 😃
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I can’t help but add this: Because of my fallen nature, and that I am but dust, I am miserable.

Keep in mind that the Lord can make saints out of us with His grace! 🙂
 
Imagine having Jesus appear to you, how must it feel to remain here when you want to be with Him!

I would be miserable too as I would want to leave with Him.
 
I see it like this.

Imagine you, without God’s grace, just you, nothing but you, and no God.

THAT IS MISERABLE.

WE are miserable!

When God comes into our lives, he gives us grace. But even when He works through us, we, the self, are still miserable. BUT WE are also getting holier!

We do good things. But WE don’t do them! God does them! He gets the credit, NOT US.

God gets credit for ALL the goodness. WE get credit for all the misery.

No matter how holy or saintly we are. In fact, the saints realize how miserable they are!

So, when you look at God, you see God, because he is the source of all good. I look at myself and see misery because then I’m not thinking about God but about myself.

Is there anything good about you? THAT is credited to God, not you!
Is there anything miserable about you? THAT is credited to you, not God!

God is not miserable! We are (without him!)
 
It really is important to keep a full eye on the entire context of this paragraph. St. Faustina said to Our Lord ,
This work frightens me. You know that I am incapable of carrying it out … You see very well that I am not in good health, that I have no education, that I have no money, that I am an abyss of misery
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, that I fear contacts with people. Jesus, I desire only You. You can release me from this” (Paragraph 881).Misery can be defined as,
a state or feeling of great distress or discomfort of mind or body.
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To this, Our Lord replied,
My daughter, what you have said is true. You are very miserable, and it pleased Me to carry out this work of mercy precisely through you who are nothing but misery itself. Do not fear; I will not leave you alone. Do whatever you can in this matter; I will accomplish everything that is lacking in you. You know what is within your power to do; do that.
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Now, I do not think the take away point from all of this should be that even a great Saint like Faustina is a disgusting person, and so therefore, we who are not Saints have no hope and should despair.

Neither is the point that Jesus was somehow cruel or abusive because He knew St. Faustina **was **miserable, especially in the sense that I’ve defined it above. (This meaning of the word is clear from the context; see paragraph 886 for more.)

The point is, precisely as JamalChristophr observed, that Christ will strengthen us despite our weaknesses, if we let Him and if we seek to do His will in all things.

Also, Our Lord’s words here are not words of abuse, but are words of comfort. St. Faustina reacted in this way,
The Lord looked into the depth of my being with great kindness;** I thought I would die for joy under that gaze. The Lord disappeared, and joy, … strength and power to act remained in my soul.** But I was surprised that the Lord did not want to release me and that He is not changing anything He has once said. And despite all these joys, there is always a shadow of sorrow. I see that love and sorrow go hand in hand.
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I’m not sure why any of the above should make a person uneasy. Aside from the great comfort and strength Our Lord gave to St. Faustina, all He did in the disputed text is agree that she is full of sadness and sorrow, and allude to the idea that it is fitting that Divine Mercy should be shown through one who is terribly in need of it.

I’m not sure if any of this helps, but this is how this text strikes me. 🙂
 
Kateri92 said:
I was reading some of St. Faustina’s Diary and it made me a bit uneasy. There is a part where Jesus is supposedly telling her that she is “misery itself”. Now, if St. Faustina is misery itself, I have no hope of heaven… Would Jesus really say this to her? I get so depressed reading this book. Did she really receive messages from Jesus?
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Yes her messages are approved by the Church.

Why do you think that us being misery means we don’t have hope of Heaven? is our hope in ourselves or in God? yes we are in fact “misery itself” but this doesn’t mean we don’t have hope in Heaven, because our hope is in Jesus. Once you internalize this the whole book becomes incredibly helpful and hopeful 🙂

Jesus tells us the truth… it’s not a depressing thing that we are nothing without Him. It means that He wants to live and act in us. 🙂
 
One of the reasons we are “misery” is because we weren’t made to be apart from God with this and with sins and a fallen nature. By ourselves we are “misery” because we weren’t meant to be “by ourselves”, but united with God 🙂 hope that helps!

God bless!
 
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