Dear Apostles of Divine Mercy,
we cordially invite you to undertake fasting, prayer, sacrifice and good deeds for peace in the world, especially in Ukraine. During this holy time, let us implore the good God that His mercy may triumph in every human heart, especially in those filled with hatred and desire for revenge, as Pope Francis encourages us: “Let us not grow tired of prayer. Let us not grow tired of uprooting evil. Let us not grow tired of doing good! And don’t forget, Ash Wednesday this year will be a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Ukraine”.
May St. Faustina support us in this difficult time and teach us how to fight with the power of prayer and sacrifice. Let us also pray for our priests, that they may courageously proclaim the truth about God whose mercy endures forever!
EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY FOR LENT
W Everything shall pass, but His mercy shall have neither limit nor end; even though evil should reach its measure, yet in mercy there is no measure (D. 423).
Today’s Ash Wednesday. During Mass today, for a short while, I felt Jesus’ Passion in my limbs. Lent is a special instrument for the work of priests; we should help them save souls (D. 931).
During Mass, I was overwhelmed by a great, inner fire of love of God and for the salvation of souls, so great that I just can’t express it. I felt I was all afire and would fight against all evil with the weapon of mercy. I was on fire with desire for the salvation of souls; I was crossing the entire world this way and that, going into its wildest places for the salvation of souls. All this I did through prayer and sacrifice (D. 745).
One day during Lent, I saw a great brightness and a great darkness over our chapel and house. I saw those two powers in battle… (D. 307).
At the beginning of Lent, I asked my confessor for a penance for the whole of Lent, and was told not to give up anything of my food, but whenever I took a meal to reflect on Jesus on the cross, taking the gall and vinegar – that would be my mortification. I didn’t know that I would draw such a great benefit from it for my soul. The benefit is that all the time when I am having a meal I am meditating on His sorrowful Passion and not thinking about what I’m eating, but about my Lord’s death (D. 618).
At the beginning of Lent, I also asked for a change in my particular examination and was given this particular point: everything that I did was to be offered up for the pure intention of atonement for sinners; it is keeping me in continuous union with God, and the intention is making my deeds more perfect, for all that I do is done for the sake of immortal souls. All the drudgery and the exhaustion is as nothing when I recall that it is reconciling the souls of sinners with God (D. 619).
On the first Friday of the month, before Communion, I saw a large ciborium full of blessed hosts. A hand put the ciborium before me, and I took it up. There were a thousand live hosts in it. Then I heard a voice, “These hosts have been received by souls for whom you have earned the grace of conversion by your prayers this Lent.” It was the week before Good Friday. I spent the day in deep interior recollection, immolating myself on behalf of souls (D. 640).
