Wash ington, DC 20002 U.S.A. wTVTv.icspublications.org INTRODUCTION Meet Three Friends Id like to begin by introducing three friends. Lets be clear about something right off the bat: God doesnt need us. (See also The Power of Confidence, p. Youre one who recognizes your poverty, weakness, brokenness, and sin. Still, from the time of her youth, she had bold desires: She wanted to become a saint, and not just any saint, but great saint. But theres something else. Moreover, by striving to quench his thirst for love, by loving him in return, we have mercy on him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, commenting on die first sin of Adam and Eve, gets to the heart of it all: Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his free dom, disobeyed Gods command. She had to stand and consent to the immolation of die victim.21 She had to remain there in faith, hoping against hope. 109 Cited in van Dijk. (Or maybe it was die other way around.) 404-8). Remem ber that? And also: [E]ven if I were to be told of Gods justice and of how even the pure spirits tremble and cover their faces before Him, saying endlessly, Holy, which would seem to suggest that my familiarity with God would be to the detriment of His honor and majesty, [I would reply,] O no, no, and once again, no! (ibid, 947). His loving gaze is fixed on us night and day and we hardly look at him. Publisher : Marian Press. Alright, so lets now express our efforts, our trying, by getting ready to consecrate ourselves to Merciful Love. I say that because our trust problem primarily has to do with God. She felt it was inaccurate. But with Thereses trial of faith, the challenge of trusting became not just about her own darkness (the darkness of her lit tleness) but about a deeper darkness that attacked the very goal of her faith, hope, and love. The first objection has to do with yesterdays reflection on purgatory. Make the Sign of the Cross 2. 61 Diary, 723. M. Verda Clare, CSC (Chicago: Fides Publishers Association, 1953), p. 25. APPENDIX ONE: Living the Offering 159 To understand what I mean by perfection on our side, it will be helpful to look at what the Church means by perfect contrition. Perfect contrition is when were sorry for our sins not because we fear hell and punishment but, rather, because our sins offend God, whom we love. He waited until after she had discovered her Little Way and had offered herself to Merciful Love. Of course, a personal consecration to Divine Mercy is not the same as making vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. And while we can get to the Fountain of Mercy with out making a Marian consecration, such a consecration enables us to drink from it so much more deeply and easily. Emphasis added. I mean, with the Offering, you have the culmination of the central teaching of the greatest and most popular saint of modern times a Doctor of the Church, no less. Anyway, Therese responds to Marie with her glorious Letter 197. For now, we can reflect on the refreshing perspective from which the saint of Lisieux approached the idea of offering herself as a spiritual victim: How GOOD is the Lord, his MERCT endures forever! Michael Gaitley has done is again. But even with such a solid scriptural foundation, we cant simply decide for ourselves that its a time of mercy. Such a decision would need to come from God, and someone with authority would have to announce it. Give me the heart of an eagle, a burning longing to choose all that you willfor me. [emailprotected] Let me explain. During this blessed time, God wants to save the world by the power of Divine Mercy through us. If this happens, we need not . After all, by consecrating yourself to Divine Mercy, youll be consol ing Jesus and making him happy. So, the elevator is the mercy ofJesus. Before we go further into diose three moments of breathing, let me say something about three words from Scripture. 125 Cited by Patrick Ahern, in Maurice and Therese: The Story of a Love (New York: Doubleday, 1998), p. 139. This is one of the main efforts under the keep trying category for living the Litde Way. Therefore, there must be such a path! 170 Diary, 86. Hail Mary 5. Well, lest we mistakenly diink we just need to luck back, eat ice cream, and wait for our canonizations, St. Therese shares with us an illuminating metaphor of a litde child at the bot tom of a staircase (probably the rough stairway of perfection). In other words, I had to go speak with my friend Er. According to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), [A] prophet is someone who tells the truth on 62 33 DAYS TO MERCIFUL LOVE the strength of his contact with God - the truth for today 76 Now, St. Therese of Lisieux is such a prophet. (Actually, family members can also make that individual 33-day preparation and conse cration in conjunction with the Family Offering and Enthronement.) DAY 10 Discovery of Divine Mercy Thereses discovery of the Little Way a straight, short, and totally new way to die heights of holiness for litde souls is really a discovery of Divine Mercy. Alright, well, now its time for a personal story. Those who have done so are amazed at how powerfully Jesus takes them up on their offer. At such moments I have the feeling that the whole world is depending on me (ibid., 870). Another way that die Divine Mercy' Image goes perfecdy with the Family Offering is that it serves as a reminder of our invitation to Jesus to come into our homes with his mercy. 33 world a key to Marys innermost reality. (2) Write out or print up the Prayer of Consecration to Merciful Love or Thereses own text so you can sign it after youve recited it if youd like, you can visit ShopMercy.org for a certificate or prayercard with the Prayer of Consecration to Merciful Love. I ask all this in Jesus name. Emphasis added. Now, lets turn to the third word spoken by Mary. Its called Tou Did It to Me1: A Practical Guide to Mercy in Action (Stockbridge: Marian Press, 2014). As we learned earlier, Thereses way is not that of merit but of mercy and of love. What you have written is but a drop compared to the ocean. They close their hearts to Christs saving WEEK ONE: What Is Trust? Right again. Confidendy, I stated my conclusion, And so 40 33 DAYS TO MERCIFUL LOVE the best way to remove that thorn and console him is to fra# him. Michael, youre absolutely right. Great! I said to myself, Its all about trusting Jesus in order to console him. At that point, 1 thought I was all set. 1. Most of all I imitate the conduct of Magdalene; her astonishing or rather her loving audacity which charms the Heart of Jesus also attracts my own. Your great trust in Me forces Me to continuously grant you graces. The Church is showing her maternal side, her motherly face, to a humanity that is wounded. What do you choose? Well, that story of the pitiful little bird with the heart of an eagle was actually Thereses attempt to explain her Little Way to her sister Marie. We see this kind of freedom, for example, in the saints particularly in those who gifted the Church with major spiri tualities. 65 St. Therese knew that God does not judge based on appearances. I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. Gaitley 33 Days to Morning Glory Begin an extraordinary 33-day journey to Marian conse cration with four spiritual giants: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II. 85 Cited in The Power of Confidence, p. 167. Hes a victim soul to Divine Justice.91 After all, Jesus made a kind of deal with the Father. Hear that. Here is the Son of God! The Paschal mystery of Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he destroyed death, and all that Christ is Endnotes 201 all that he did and suffered for all men participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all. Now youll need the right prayer. Help us to accept your Sons mercy with your own openness of heart at the Annunciation. "She believed God's Word, even when it seemed impossible. Amen. That moment is supercharged because, at the Mass, Jesus is giving himself Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity into our hands: literally, in the hands of the priest, and spiritually, in the hands of all the lay faithful who unite their own sacrifices to the offering of the priest at the altar. 1596143452. So, when we keep trying and keep trusting, God purifies [us] every moment in His love and He lets no sin remain. Okay, so that covers two of our three things for living the Little Way that we learned on Day 11: Keep trying and keep trusting. I can think of no better way to begin to see through the lens of mercy titan by spending time each day gazing upon dtis image of Jesus. No, she suffered from tuberculosis, but she died of love. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, author of the popular book Consoling the Heart of Jesus, comes an extraordinary 33-day journey to Marian consecration with four giants of Marian spirituality: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II. Thereses heart was wounded, it is true, but here, love was answered by love the wound of love! Outwardly, it seems as if everything were lost, but it is not so. To address such difficulties, I dedicated a whole section of the book Consoling the Heart ofJesus to the question, How can I console Jesus if hes happy in heaven?195 Since that time, however, Ive reflected even more deeply on this topic, and here Id like to share some insights that both complement that earlier writing and help summarize the theology of consoling the Heart of Jesus (in three points). After the angel departs, Mary goes in haste to visit her cousin, St. Elizabeth (the Visitation), and when Elizabeth hears Marys greeting, the child in her womb leaps for joy. We tell her shes forgiven but in vain. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and St. Claude de la Colombiere and translated by Paul Garvin (Rockford, Ill.: TAN Books and Publishers, 1984), we read the following, which also ties in with Thereses idea that well learn on Day 21, namely, that the Offering to Merciful Love causes one to become a martyr of love: [I ]t is the teaching of great masters of the spiritual life that a person who, at the point of death, makes an act of perfect conformity to the will of God [i.e., an expression of unshakable trust] will be delivered not only from Hell but also from Purgatory, even if he has committed all the sins in the world. Smile Remember Thereses smile at her death. But before I connect those dots for you, let me introduce a third friend. For evidence of this, we need only look as far as the text of her Offering to Merciful Love: I desire, in a word, to be a saint, but I feel my help lessness and I beg You, O my God! Ive often pondered these questions, and what follows are three answers that, I hope, will help us live the Offering to Merciful Love with the same generous spirit as the Saint of Lisieux. Michael Gaitley shows us the power of just such an offering to Merciful Love in the lives of the greatest saints of our time, methodically prepares us to follow their lead, and reveals what it can mean to us and the men and women of our time if and when we do. by Michael E. Gaitley Paperback . Simply recall the case of Sr. Marie of the Trinity, one of St. Thereses novices who feared purgatory and wondered if someone as weak as she could hope to avoid it. Yet his Heart cant hold this returned love, for its been pierced, and now your lungs are empty. Were sinners who would die of terror if we fully realized our selfishness and sin. 165 See Story of a Soul, p. 270. Michael Browner Well, she actually would be if she were telling us we can expect to go straight to heaven without sorrow for our sins and without making a firm purpose of amendment. And I can say in all sincerity that my house is at rest. She realized that she couldnt compete with Gods love. Okay, so what do you need to do? For with God nothing will be impossible. And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her (Lk 1:26-38). Todays Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, fire of mercy. If you still havent begun to savor its sweetness, ponder Thereses advice to her sister Celine, which brings us back to the Heart of the Good Shepherd: [D]o not fear, the poorer you are the more Jesus will love you. 9. I want, O my Beloved, at each beat of my heart to renew this offering to You an infinite number of times, until the shadows having disappeared I may be able to tell You of my Love in an Eternal Face to Face!1*3 Please note: If on your day of consecration, you recite your consecration prayer with a group, I highly recommend only using the Prayer of Consecration to Merciful Love. That is, the Holy Face is not a smiling, happy face. I dont see that we are advancing toward the summit of the mountain since our journey is being made underground, but it seems to me that we are approaching it without knowing how.154 Todays Prayer: Come. And then I hope well remember the blessing. But tlacn, eventually, Id read something in Thereses writings that would give me hope. This is a striking illustration of what I want to say, but the reality itself is beyond the power of words to express.142 Well now let these last words of Thereses autobiography be the last words of this days meditation. I mean, why should we get excited about Gods abundant mercy for sinners if we dont really think were sinners? In fact, St. Therese believed that for little souls who live the Little Way and make the Offering to Merciful Love, purgatory can easily he avoided. Chris Alar, MIC, and Mark Moran for reasons that will become clear in the introduction. Saint Faustina once had a vision of purgatory (that place of suffering for the souls of those who die in a state of grace but who are still in need of purification100), and she asked the souls there what their greatest suffering was. Or we at least need to be properly taught from diem. $14.95. 171 Saint John of the Cross, The Living Flame of Love, commentary on stanza 1, line 6 (cited in Gaucher, p. 221). I have come to know that Holy Communion remains in me until the next Holy Communion. Its to trust die prophetic word of St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church, FINAL FIVE DAYS: Synthesis and Review 119 that God will satisfy our desires for holiness and raise us to the heights of sanctity. But look at what weve just learned from the ecce, fiat, magnificat movement: The path to praise begins with the ecce moment. For, from the ecce moment, we eventually move to the fiat moment. It seems to me that if all creatures had received die same graces I received, God would be feared by none but would be loved to the point of folly; and through love, not through fear, no one would ever consent to cause Him any pain. More specifically, it began with a lie: Eve listened to the lie of the serpent, a lie that made God seem jealous, selfish, and conniving. DAY 8 None More Lowly 1 just said that perhaps no one among sinful humanity is more lowly and little than Therese of Lisieux. See all formats and editions . In her visions at Fatima, Our Lady asked (first) for the consecration of Russia to her. My old friend -ZTLfrom college had said to me on the phone, You need to do for the Offering to Merciful Love of St. Thercse of Lisicux what you did for Marian consecration. Let me unpack that a bit. And if we exist simply to glorify God, then it seems that little souls enable God to manifest his glory even moreso than other souls. 276-77. Just make up die reading die next day. In the end, then, we can compete. Remember, the Little Way is based on St. Thereses deep rediscovery of the heart of the Gospel, namely, Gods mercy for sinners, Gods love that goes out especially to the weak, broken, and sinful. What we think of as negligence, Therese wrote, is very often heroism in the eyes of God. She warned Celine: On the last day, you will be astonished to see your sisters freed from all their im perfections, and they will appear as great saints. Although such little souls might pass unnoticed and have nothing to boast about, they are great in the eyes of God, for in their poverty they are full of hope ( With Empty Hands, p. 110). Emphasis added. You do a great injury to God in believing youre going to purgatory. (Or, as Therese would put it, its the Little Way of mercy.) And now I am simply resigned to see myself always imperfect and in this I find my joy. 147 Ibid., p. 256. Download 33 Days to Merciful Love A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Pre. 157 See endnote 3 15S In his encyclical letter on Divine Mercy, Dives in Misericordia, Pope John Paul II spoke about the importance of making a plea to God for mercy in our time. 192 Regarding the Image of Divine Mercy, Jesus tells St. Faustina, Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush, lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace (Diary, 313). Seraphims answer is very interesting. Stores . Purgatory Heres one other catch that comes with making the Offering to Merciful Love: It gradually increases our longing for God. I discov ered hidden treasures in Thereses teaching that made me say over and over, Why havent I heard this before? To combat this, we may take even more selfies or rush off to accomplish even greater tilings to make a name for ourselves, to be some body. But the ache comes back because we can never do enough to satisfy our craving for greatness and love, and our precious accomplishments and digital images fade away like so much dust and vanity (Eccl 1:2).152 Now, make no mistake: We are called to be great, very great beyond-our-wildest-imaginings great. 70-72. Thats why Sr. Therese so emphasized trust. Not necessarily. Specifically, it follows the theology of her Offering to Merciful Love, which is essentially a consecration to Divine Mercy. How could Isaac have children if he were killed as a child? The flames of mercy are burning Me. And, actually, Therese is smiling at you now. After all, I figured that only the quickest and easiest path could help someone like me to become a saint. I often communicate with persons who are dying and obtain the divine mercy' for them. to be Yourself my Sanctity! Let me put it this way: the Good News isnt really news if we dont feel were in need of it. Now, of course, it doesnt give us freedom to choose when it comes to something like the Ten Command ments. Amazon. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love die eternal possession of Yourself [Allow] die waves of infinite tenderness shut up within You to overflow into my soul.148 100 33 DAYS TO MERCIFUL LOVE Clearly, Therese is confident that God will let her borrow his own love so she can love him perfectly in return. And what is the Gospel? Rather, the various weeks vcdll focus on one saint: Therese of Lisieux and her spiritual teaching. Its a way thats very straight because its entirely ver tical, very short because it avoids die spirals of the staircase,55 and totally new or at least it feels that way because it redis covers the heart of the Gospel, namely, Gods mercy for the litde and die lowly. For the next eight days (the Introduction and Week One St. Louis de Montfort), we'll begin our time with this Retreat Companion with the Angelus. Let our judgment of souls cease, for Gods mercy' upon them is extraordinary (1684). When you get your hands on 33 Days To Merciful Love Pdf and go through it, you quickly realise you have a great book with deep knowledge about 33 Days To Merciful Love . But thats actually where things start to get interesting. Why? No. It seeks to please him and console him. Yes. The three words from Scripture, in IV1 Latin, are as follows: ecce,fiat, magnificat. With her glorious Letter 197 to her he waited until after she had discovered her way. 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