Dearest Jesus,
King of Divine Mercy,
Strengthen me
Against temptation,
Strengthen me
Against delight,
Strengthen me
Against consent;
I humbly ask for this
In Your Most Holy Name;
Jesus, I love You,
Jesus, I trust in You.
Amen.
THE CIRCLE OF GENTLENESS /
“...I am gentle and humble of heart…” — Jesus, The Divine Mercy
Fear is the root of all sin:
Fear leads to arrogance,
Arrogance leads to selfishness,
Selfishness leads to violence;
But, on the other hand,
Gentleness leads to wonder,
Gentleness leads to gratitude,
Gentleness leads to thanksgiving,
Gentleness leads to surrender,
Gentleness leads to littleness,
Gentleness leads to humility,
Gentleness leads to compassion,
Gentleness leads to kindness,
Gentleness leads to love,
And then, coming full circle,
Perfect love casts out all fear.
THE CIRCLE OF PATIENCE /
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” – St. Augustine of Hippo
Fear is the root of all sin:
Fear leads to impatience,
Impatience leads to all vice;
But, on the other hand,
Patience leads to self-control,
Patience leads to gentleness,
Patience leads to faithfulness,
Patience leads to generosity,
Patience leads to kindness,
Patience leads to peace,
Patience leads to joy,
Patience leads to love,
And then, coming full circle,
Perfect love casts out all fear.
OUR LADY OF JOY /
As she serenely stepped out of the upper
room, she rejoiced in a fresh new day,
She looked about her peaceful surroundings,
drinking in the delicious goodness of God;
Clusters of clouds casually wafted by, so low
that they brushed the pinnacle of the temple,
They passed by like eager pilgrims, Eucharistic
white against the bright blue morning sky;
Later that morning, she and the Apostles were
deeply immersed in prayer when, suddenly,
She inhaled the sweet scent of God’s presence,
and joyfully breathed in the Lord’s love;
The balmy breeze of grace swirled around her
and compassionately caressed her,
She reflected on God’s glorious grandeur,
and His magnificence soaked into her soul;
Then, the Word rushed into them all,
as the Holy Spirit swiftly swooped down,
The bold beautiful breeze of heavenly hope
placidly filled the sails of their souls;
The Paraclete, like a powerful, whirling wind,
spectacularly sparked the wicks of their
Souls, and ignited the fire of love, which
rippled through and rhymed in their hearts;
Then, Our Lady’s heart was passionately,
preciously pierced by the sweet sword
Of the Spirit; her soul, suddenly
brimming with God’s majestic mercy,
Soared in a spiraling celestial
crescendo of God’s love for her;
With peaceful confidence, her heart,
like a fiery supernova, exploded with
Feelings of love, joy, and peace,
of patience, kindness, and generosity;
Her smiling eyes then beheld the
flaming fire of Love resting on all, and as
She serenely surrendered all to the Spirit,
like a giddy geyser she gushed
Torrents of light-hearted laughter
and happy, heavenly tears; this golden
Cascade of pure love poured over
her soul like a warm, wonderful
Waterfall of holy honey; deep down
inside, the Spirit was strumming on
The harmonic harp of her heart, and
she was deliciously, delightfully deluged
By this overwhelming ocean of Jesus’
magnificent mercy and love;
The Light of the World had scattered
and defeated the dreary dark night.
THE HOURGLASS /
As I begin the day,
My guardian angel
Turns over the hourglass,
So now I have a full hour
To start my day in calm,
With the little grains of sand
Falling down ever so gently;
But then The Enemy
Abruptly turns me upside-down
By unexpectedly flipping the hourglass
Back over, and with the
Suddenness of a desert storm,
Fear has decapitated Time,
And now the little grains of sand
Rain down — and rain down hard —
Like splattering drops of blood,
As I carry my cross;
Our Lady of Love whispers
In my ear and encouragingly
Reminds me to approach
The Sea of Mercy
With great trust —
Just then Our Blessed Lord,
With a carpenter’s strong hands,
Gently yet firmly places
The hourglass back into
An upright position and
Time is resurrected to new life,
And so I continue to meditate upon
The Miracle of Divine Mercy.
THE CHRISTMAS STAR IN THE DARK NIGHT /
When our lives turn black
As night, and we are lost
And don’t know where to turn,
We lose our sense of direction
And wonder where our journey
Is taking us, but there is
No need to worry, for all we
Need to do is follow The Star,
The sparkling Christmas Star,
For she is peacefully waiting,
Waiting to sweetly embrace
And caress each one of us,
From the depths of her heart,
And she is shining with a
Dazzling brilliance that is
Wonderful to behold,
She quietly and calmly
Leads us to her Son,
For her magnificent Son is
The Most Holy Sun of Love,
The King of the Universe.
DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT DARK NIGHT /
Do not go gentle
Into that Dark Night,
Pray, pray, for the coming
Of the Light.
Patiently wait for Him
In the fearful Dark Night,
Pray, pray that you will
Fight the good fight.
He will give you courage
To survive the Dark Night,
Pray, pray, that He will
Make you a holy knight.
SPIRALING THROUGH THE FOUR SEASONS /
Spiritual springtime blooms
With God’s sweet consolations,
As the holy breeze of the Spirit
Caresses our vine branches.
Spiritual summertime ripens with
The delicious fruit of the Spirit,
Bringing to our hungry world
God’s immeasurable love.
Spiritual autumn is a time to
Fall, on our knees in humility,
Understanding that death --
And resurrection -- are nearer.
Spiritual winter brings blessings,
Snowflakes both red and white,
Nourishing our needy souls with
Divine Mercy in the dark night.
Then, behold, the resurrection,
As spiritual springtime returns --
Yet sweeter -- and each year we
Spiral higher up towards Heaven.
UNEXPECTED JOURNEYS INTO DIVINE MERCY /
To escape -- like a coward --
The stranglehold of stress,
I try my best to sidestep
Inconvenient interruptions
Whose menacing thunder
Frightens me — yet why?
They lead me on a journey
To the God of surprises,
To Heaven’s horizon,
Where the sun’s streaming rays
Of radiant red and white are
Colored by Love’s divine mercy.
DIVINE UNION WITH THE DIVINE MERCY /
My soul surrenders to
The Spirit’s tender embrace,
And Love sweetly surges
Through my being with the
Warm wine of holiness;
With indescribable delight
My humbled heart
Bursts with heavenly joy,
Burning with passion for
The Crucified Christ,
Yearning for union with
The Divine Mercy.
O MOST PRECIOUS SACRED HEART /
O most precious Sacred Heart,
Pierced by Longinus’ Roman dart;
Your blood flows through all the land,
Quenching our thirst in the desert sand;
Divine Mercy’s sweet love conquers all,
No matter how many times we fall;
Your heart can help the blind to see,
Even a sinful soul like me.
FAITH IN THE MIDST OF THE DARK NIGHT /
In the deep dark night,
The swirling black sky
Of sadness and despair
Seems never-ending,
And the wild winds
Of worry and woe
Scream in pain,
But the Morning Star,
A beacon of hope,
Sweetly rises in my soul,
Whispering the truth
With its happy light:
“Have faith, my child.
The darkness will not last.
The Divine Mercy is near.
So be patient and trust Him,
For the Son always rises!”
TRUE JOY /
Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi
True joy
Is Divine Mercy
In the dark night
Of the cross.
Jesus, I wait for You!
Jesus, I watch for You!
Jesus, I trust in You!
AN ECLIPSE OF THE SON /
Very few know the Dark Night,
Like St. John of the Cross,
But more of us may experience
An Eclipse of the Son:
For a short period of time
We don’t see Him,
We don’t hear Him,
We don’t feel Him,
But in the dark sky
The dazzling corona of
Pure Light reminds us
That Jesus is silently there,
Wearing His crown of glory,
Yet in a twinkle of time
It is over and He is waiting
To embrace us with the
Sweetness of divine mercy --
I patiently trusted, clinging
To the hope of the Resurrection,
And soon my blind eyes were
Opened once again by the
Brilliant Light of Love.
DIVINE MERCY IN THE DARK NIGHT OF UNKNOWING /
It’s early morning and
the crafty enemy
crouches and waits,
like a hungry lion ready
to devour my world,
with worthless worries;
in the neutral zone,
transitioning out of sleep,
I lie in bed with my eyes closed,
and my mind gradually
awakens into the
nebulous fog
of fear.
My day begins
in the dark night of unknowing.
The enemy tries to strangle me
with multitudinous doubts:
about time,
about interruptions,
about irate people,
about conflicts,
about coertion,
about expectations,
about performance,
about success,
about reputation,
about ability,
about sales,
about money,
about choices,
about decisions,
about relationships,
about rejection,
about knowledge,
about honesty,
about truth.
The fog of failure threatens
in the dark night of unknowing.
With my eyes still closed,
still in the neutral zone,
I am in the darkness;
but the Light is there,
though my mind’s eye
cannot yet see it,
so I reach out in faith and
place myself in the presence
of the good God,
then I invoke the Holy Spirit,
and in my mind
I sing a hymn of praise;
suddenly, through the cloudy mist
like a distant diamond
I see the sparkling of the
Morning Star.
The Light twinkles
in the dark night of unknowing.
Our Lady sweetly
and gently
draws near to me,
in a tunnel of dazzling
Son-shine;
she warmly smiles at me
with her angelic aquamarine eyes,
and her soft hair
and her majestic mantle
blow in the balmy breeze
of the Spirit;
and she lovingly clasps
her own warm hands
around mine,
and then tenderly
embraces me,
with the limitless love
of the Lord.
The Light shines
In the dark night of unknowing.
Next she places a radiant
little candle
in my right hand,
and points to her only Sun,
Christ the Courageous;
she sweetly whispers to me,
and then, together,
we humbly kneel down
and offer prayers
of complete surrender
to Our Lord and King --
the flame of my little candle
dances with delight.
The Light bursts forth with
merciful rays of red and white
in the dark night of unknowing.
Then the fog of fear evaporates
and my heart leaps
with confident joy.
The dark night of unknowing
has been triumphantly
transformed into
the bright light where
God’s love is flowing:
Jesus, I trust in You!
THE DIVINE ARTIST /
Inspired by Bishop Robert Barron
I thirst for Beauty,
Dazzled by her loveliness,
But when I find her,
I realize that I also hunger,
Hunger for Goodness,
So I try to establish a
Meaningful relationship
With Beauty, looking for
Goodness in her,
Yet even these two things
Do not give me fulfillment,
For I also need to find Truth;
But when all three blend
Together in holy harmony,
Then, only then, do I find
The Love, the Joy, and the Peace
That I have been searching for –
In the touch of the Divine Artist.
SACRED ART /
Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi & St. John Paul II
Our Heavenly Father is the
Divine Artist, who paints
On the canvas of our souls;
When we surrender to Him,
He very gently and delicately dips
The brush of the Spirit into
The palette of the virtues,
And He colors our lives with Love;
But when we smudge our painting
With the charcoal pencils of our sins,
Then He paints over our faults with
The Blood of His Son’s Love,
For God is beauty,
And f we are patient and trust,
He refines us and perfects us,
Making us a masterpiece.
THE IMMACULATE RECEPTION /
With murderous
Menacing eyes,
Blitzing linebackers
Aggressively attack
The line of scrimmage
With their worldly temptations,
And threaten to tackle me hard
And intercept my attempts
To remain in Jesus’ love,
So I quickly step back
Into the crumbling pocket,
And though distracted
By the waving arms
Of the wild intruders,
I am filled with the Spirit,
I joyfully sing to the Lord,
I give thanks to Him always,
I pray, hope, and don’t worry,
I am courageous and not afraid,
I do whatever He tells me,
I come to Him and I am refreshed,
I am filled with patience and wisdom,
I have the divine sense of humor,
I have true joy in the dark night,
I fix my gaze on the Passion,
And I have great trust in Divine Mercy;
So I throw a prayer of love
With all my might
High into the Heavens,
Confident that Our Lady will
Snatch it from all the defenders,
Which she always does;
She leaps ever so high into the air,
Like the most elegant ballerina,
Making the Immaculate Reception,
Then she flies like an angel
Down the sideline and
Kneels in the end zone,
Bringing my heartfelt prayer
Before our Lord and King.
Touchdown.
THE STADIUM IN THE DARK NIGHT /
I quietly and invisibly
live my faith,
and accept life’s
incessant curveballs;
I am obedient to my
Manager’s wish for
bunt singles
instead of home runs.
The people of the world
are sitting in the box seats,
busied with food
and other amusements;
living in another world,
they have no idea
what I’m doing
in the batter’s box.
But Our Lord, Our Lady,
and the heavenly court
happily cheer me on
from the upper deck;
I live my life in the
shadow of the cross,
living in the dark night
of the unseen.
PRAYER AT THE HOUR OF MERCY /
Dearest Jesus,
King of Divine Mercy,
During this Hour of Mercy,
Help me to slow down my life,
To let go all of my worries,
And to give them to Our Lady,
So that she can gently lay them
At the foot of your cross;
And so I humbly place myself,
Lovingly and wholeheartedly,
In your most holy presence —
Help me to recall your passion,
Your painful bloody passion,
And how much you suffered,
In the agony in the garden,
In the scourging at the pillar,
In the crowning of thorns,
In the carrying of the cross,
And in the crucifixion,
So that I may better understand
How much I have wounded you
With all my sins!
And so, as I stand at Golgotha,
Watching the blood and water
That flow from your side,
I approach this Sea of Mercy
With great trust —
Please fill my heart
To overflowing measure
With your unfathomable mercy.
Amen.