The Holy Spirit,
The Light of the Universe,
Travels at the speed of eternity,
And when He passes through
The Sacred Heart of Jesus,
The Dove of Divine Mercy is
Transfigured into dazzling rays
Of red and white that pierce
My soul and energize it with
The Holy Lightning of Love.
When I scourge you with my sins
But then ask you for forgiveness,
Your most treasured blood
Trickles like tears into my heart;
When my thorny sins crown you,
But then I tell you that I’m sorry,
Drops of your royal red blood
Sink soothingly into my spirit;
I fail you again and again and again,
Yet when I sincerely surrender
My whole heart and soul to you,
Your beautiful blood and water
Spill from your open wound
Into the Chalice of Divine Mercy,
And my thirsty soul drinks in
The sweet new wine of the Spirit.
As I gradually look up,
I see luminous rose petals
Fall gently and delicately
From the sky like snow,
Eucharistic-white
In the deep dark night.
My mission is prayer
In the dark night of the unseen,
My mission is surrender
In the dark night of unknowing,
My mission is love
In the dark night of the cross.
The path before me is
Strewn with radiant roses that
Glow like glorious lamps,
So I faithfully travel it and find
The Eucharistic Light
That transfigures the dark night.
I hesitantly open the door
of the confessional
and to my utter surprise
I see a sandy beach:
as I approach the waters
of gentle aquamarine,
I see Jesus before me;
He looks at my feet,
crusty and blackened
with all my sins,
so He washes them
with His holy hands;
then He leads me into the ocean,
whose welcoming waves
of delightful divine mercy
kiss and caress my soul,
cooling and refreshing me;
peace and joy
rush through me,
and as love ripples and rhymes,
sweetening my soul,
I am born again.
I stagger and stumble
and struggle through life,
my brain twisted into knots
by perplexing problems,
by a delirium of doubts,
by a flurry of fickle fears;
so Our Lady of Love
takes me by the hand
and gently leads me to
The Divine Mercy,
where He is enthroned in His
regal monstrance of gold,
and I pour out my heart
before His Holy Majesty;
from His Most Precious Body
two beams of bright light,
both red and white,
burn through the darkness,
illuminating my mind,
and the Truth has set me free.
When I wave the white flag
in the serene surrender of prayer,
I allow the water of my soul
to be poured freely into
His chalice of gold;
there I am baptized by Love
and born again,
transformed by the Transfigured,
changed forever by the sweet
new wine of the Spirit.
As the Sacred Heart
Beats with thrills of joy,
The new wine of Divine Love
Sweetly surges through the
Thirsty Body of Christ,
Bringing the refreshment
Of the Holy Spirit,
And the gentle mercy
Of our Heavenly Father;
With compassion, Jesus says,
“Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you.”
Our Father’s eyes are upon us,
And we are gently caressed
By His compassionate gaze;
He speaks with a voice sublime,
Words of hope and encouragement,
Urging us to remain in Divine Mercy;
He knows everything about us,
The good, the bad, the unknown,
And yet, remarkably, He still loves us;
Then, we humbly approach Him,
Like the repentant prodigal son,
Wearing the tattered rags of sin:
He joyfully embraces and kisses us,
And, to our amazement, we are
Forgiven, and we are born again.
You, the holy fire
That purifies my soul,
The Holy Dove of
Divine Mercy,
Spiral downwards
And inflame my
Innermost being,
Burning away
All affection for sin,
Freeing the wings
Of my heart so that
I can spiral upwards
With you to Heaven,
And find union with
Divine Love.
I turn around and before me you stand,
one whose robe is dazzlingly white,
On your head is a glistening gold crown,
set with gemstones radiant and bright;
With great love, you bestow your peace upon me,
through your wonderfully warm brown eyes,
Your merciful smile cheers my heart,
so that my soul can most sweetly arise;
In the joyful breeze of the Holy Spirit,
your flowing hair so very gently swirls,
In my heart I totally surrender to you,
and for you this is a treasure of pearls.
I turn around and before me you stand,
one whose robe is dazzlingly white,
On your head is a glistening gold crown,
set with gemstones radiant and bright;
With great love, you bestow your peace upon me,
through your wonderfully warm brown eyes,
Your merciful smile cheers my heart,
so that my soul can most sweetly arise;
In the joyful breeze of the Holy Spirit,
your flowing hair so very gently swirls,
In my heart I totally surrender to you,
and for you this is a treasure of pearls.
Hi, everyone!
Gloria in excelsis Deo! It's time to celebrate the magnificent Feast of Mercy!
Again, just to refresh our memories, here are the three things we need to do in order to receive "The Extraordinary Promise":
Go to Confession (before Divine Mercy Sunday, preferably as close to that day as possible)
Receive Holy Communion (on Divine Mercy Sunday or on the vigil)
Do our best to live and remain in a state of grace
St. Faustina records in her diary these magnificently beautiful words of Jesus: "On that great day [Divine Mercy Sunday]... the soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (section 699).
Indeed, what a wonderful blessing!
In addition, Fr. Chris Alar also recommends that today we sincerely recite this simple yet powerful prayer:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/poem-of-the-day/2024/4/2/prayer-for-divine-mercy-sunday
Now, in a worst-case scenario, if something prevented you from accomplishing the items listed above, don't worry! (The evil one loves when we worry.) Remember, Our Lord Jesus is not just the King of Kings and the King of the Universe. He is also the King of Divine Mercy -- and he is never, ever, outdone in generosity. Truly, His goodness and mercy toward us are unfathomable! What an immense gift from God, to be able to celebrate this beautiful feast day every year on the Sunday after Easter.
If you would like to honor this special day by praying the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (which is especially appropriate at the three o'clock hour, the "Hour of Mercy"), you can also find it on my website. It's a splendid way to celebrate the Hour of Mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday. Just click on the following link and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
Lastly, if you would like to learn more details about the amazing history of Divine Mercy, please click on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpwxWIPt__g
God bless you all, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
Our "Mission of Divine Mercy" is almost complete! For the last nine days -- including today -- we have been praying the magnificent Divine Mercy Novena, which will culminate tomorrow on Divine Mercy Sunday, the great Feast of Mercy.
By the way, I hope the sacred art has been as inspiring for you as it has been for me. For those of you who have been viewing the paintings on your smartphone, I would encourage you to treat yourself by viewing the sacred art on your computer. The paintings can come much more alive this way, and you may find that your meditation is even more profound.
So, as we approach the finish line, let's picture a splendid heavenly stadium where we see Our Lord and Our Lady, smiling because they see how much we want to do God's will. The stadium is filled with all the saints and angels, who are happily cheering us on. Tomorrow we will experience Jesus' indescribable love for us on Divine Mercy Sunday! Yes, we're almost there -- I can almost taste it!
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 9" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
We're almost there! Two more days until we experience Jesus' indescribable compassion on Divine Mercy Sunday!
Hopefully, you have already gone to confession this week, or have it marked on your calendar for either today or tomorrow. I just don't want anyone to miss out on magnificently beautiful blessings on Divine Mercy Sunday. They are simply too wonderful.
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 8" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
For the many of you who are caught up with the prayers for this week's novena, all I can say is this: Well done! Well done indeed!
For any of you who are not quite caught up with your novena prayers, hang in there! I know that after I celebrate a special occasion like Easter, sometimes it can feel like there are just so many things that need to get done. So I completely understand if any of are you experiencing that, too.
But there is still time for us to catch up with the Divine Mercy Novena! You can do it! I know you can! Our Lord and Our Lady are cheering us on! The finish line is now in our view, so it's time for us to finish strong and be those gold-medal spiritual athletes that St. Paul talked about when he said, "Run so as to win" (1 Corinthians 9:24).
Today the sacred art will transition from the carrying of the cross to a few different perspectives of the crucifixion, and then it will close with the joy of the resurrection.
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 7" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
How time flies with a good novena -- we're already over halfway to our goal!
So in case you haven't already done so, I just want to give you another friendly reminder that if you have not yet gone to confession, now is a good time to plan it, and the same is true for planning your mass on Divine Mercy Sunday.
Tomorrow the sacred art will change one more time and we will see art that reflects the conclusion of the Passion -- the crucifixion -- but then looks forward to the Resurrection!
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 6" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
Just in case you have been too busy to watch the video by Fr. Chris Alar, let me give you an ultra-quick synopsis. This coming Sunday, you will have the opportunity to obtain a special and wonderful gift from Our Lord. It is called "The Extraordinary Promise."
In her spiritual classic entitled Divine Mercy in my Soul, St. Faustina stated the following: "On that great day [Divine Mercy Sunday]... the soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (section 699). This is a gift so indescribably beautiful that words simply cannot express the immense magnitude of Jesus' love for each and every one of us. He wants all of us to remain in His love forever!
So we need to do three things in order to receive this great grace:
Go to Confession (before Divine Mercy Sunday, preferably as close to that day as possible)
Receive Holy Communion (on Divine Mercy Sunday or on the vigil)
Do our best to live and remain in a state of grace
Okay, then.
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 5" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Prayer Shared on EWTN by Fr. Chris Alar, MIC
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God,
Have mercy on me,
A poor sinner.
Jesus, you promised St. Faustina
That the soul that has been to confession (I have),
And the soul that receives Holy Communion (I just did),
Will receive complete forgiveness
Of all sin and punishment.
Please give me this grace.
Amen.
O Divine Artist,
I humbly kneel
In awe before you!
Hi, everyone!
Today you will notice that the narrative of the Passion will continue and the sacred art will shift its focus to the next part of the story. So for the next three days we will meditate upon a different set of artistic masterpieces.
We can do it! St. Faustina and the communion of saints are cheering us on! Our Lord and Our Lady of Divine Mercy are cheering us on! They love us so deeply, and so very dearly, more than we can possibly imagine.
Also, I hope you had the chance to watch Fr. Chris Alar’s video on the treasure of Divine Mercy Sunday. If you're not already familiar with the details of this great Feast of Mercy, it's an absolute must-watch. It can help us to be fully prepared to receive the wondrous blessings of this special day.
I have once again included the following link to the video, for your convenience:
In order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 4" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe