Praising God for all the graces received during the International Days of the Apostles of Divine Mercy, we share with you selected testimonies of the participants.
I am happy that I was able to participate in the International Days of the Apostles of Divine Mercy in Krakow, Poland, organised by the Faustinum Association, at the ‘‘world capital of Divine Mercy”. These days of prayer, adoration, penance, teaching and meetings were a time of close and intimate encounter with God, Jesus and Sister Faustina.
We were given a wonderful welcome by all the volunteer teams, who welcomed us in a Christian way, with a smile, in the atmosphere of closeness, warmth and simplicity.
The pilgrims from my group, from the Archdiocese of Lubumbashi, returned healed of inner wounds, freed from many burdens, purified of sins.
I came to this meeting with personal problems and burdens, but as it happens in the divine “ocean of mercy”, that is in the Heart of Jesus, when the meeting was over I returned purified, light, joyful and beautiful. I dream of returning soon to join the Faustinum Association.
Father Mukoko, Archdiocese of Lubumbashi Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo
My experience of the International Days of the Apostles of Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki was a deep ‘‘immersion’’ into the mystery of God’s love and His immeasurable mercy. During these few days I felt Jesus really working in my heart, touching those places that needed healing, transformation and and giving me a new perspective for the future. Every moment of prayer and conversation with other MDABM participants reminded me that God’s mercy is a real gift that transforms our lives. I realised even more that God’s mercy does not end with the forgiveness of sins, but extends to my whole everyday, ordinary life – my relationships with all the people I meet and with myself, my fears, my worries and my future. Meeting the other participants was also a source of great inspiration for me. Listening to their stories made me realise how different the ways of God’s mercy can be. It seems to me that each of us came to Lodz with different experiences, but we had one thing in common – a desire to meet those who want to be instruments of God’s mercy in different parts of the world, which is so in need of it at the moment. As always, I left Lagiewniki with a heart full of peace and hope. These days have confirmed my conviction that God’s mercy is a mission to which I am called every day. Now, more than ever, I want to share this mercy with others, also through words, but above all through daily witness. I will try as much as I can to make God’s mercy my way of life.
Adam, Faustinum member, Poland
I understood during the days that the Lord was calling me to be perfect…. But it is not the ‘perfection’ I was expecting… It hurts a lot, sometimes… ‘I don’t understand my Spouse’… I heard one of the Sisters say. Well, I have to say the same thing, it’s the same for me: But I can’t stop loving Him, my poor heart wants to love, very much, in spite of everything.
He is calling me to holiness, to the perfection I have seen in these days, to which the Merciful Jesus is calling me: to stop focusing on suffering, to stop resisting love, to let my heart love and to forgive. If we want to save ourselves, we have to look at Jesus and be merciful, because we are like Samaritans (this impressed me) and we save others with mercy.
Jesus, I trust in You. I praise You, my Lord.
I liked very much the joy of the sisters who were happy to receive us and their words that we need to invoke the Holy Spirit first.
Confession helped me to open my heart so that the rays of mercy could enter, and I found the priest to be merciful and understanding.
Thank you for these days. Thank you, Saint Faustina and Merciful Jesus.
Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ.
Felicidad Izaguirre, Faustinum member, Spain
This is the third time I have participated in such Days of the Apostles of Divine Mercy. The experience of the graces of mercy during these days. In our meetings people from all over the world gave a witness. I especially want to write here about the gift of meeting with the venerable Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Just being at the Shrine, the talks or conferences of the Sisters, and this has been the case for me for the past 18 years, is an experience of moving in graces as if ‘from the Heart of Jesus’. The Sisters show themselves as the most smiling female religious order in the world. Undoubtedly, it is the smile of the Merciful Jesus for every soul. Thank you God for such a gift of feeling.
On a personal note, I am Kuba’s dad. Our 25-year-old son is ‘stretched on the cross of suffering with Jesus’ through treatment and rehabilitation for a significant disability. For many months now, we have been experiencing the many small miracles of mercy that flow from the graces of the prayers of the sisters and the other faithful in this shrine. I gave a testimoney to also give thanks for his rescue at the time of a traffic accident. Kuba was entrusted from conception to the intercession of St. Faustina and it is evident in this care that her message is showed daily and is helpful to him and our family.
The days of the Apostles of Divine Mercy are also a time of listening to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Mercy; what I should do next. It is known that the first small Church of the proclamation of mercy is our family and our well meaning ‘together’. The experience of graces grew until the intercessory prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Mercy through the common prayer led by Martin on the last day. I held the family image of Jesus I trust in you in my hands and felt the new outpouring, the new anointing and the real action of graces when the leader prayed, ‘Holy Spirit, unpack in us what is not yet realised in deeds of mercy according to the will of Jesus’. The right prayer in the right time. From the Heart of Jesus to my heart.
Jesus, thank you for the Mercy shown to us during these three days with a programme of graces for the next two -three years!
Ryszard Podborowski
