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Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 686 - Participation and Intercession

Ἀ
September. First Friday. In the evening, I saw the Mother of God, with Her breast bared and pierced with a sword. She was shedding bitter tears and shielding us against God's terrible punishment. God wants to inflict terrible punishment on us, but He cannot because the Mother of God is shielding us. Horrible fear seized my soul. I kept praying incessantly for Poland, for my dear Poland, which is so lacking in gratitude for the Mother of God. If it were not for the Mother of God, all our efforts would be of little use. I intensified my prayers and sacrifices for our dear native land, but I see that I am a drop before the wave of evil. How can a drop stop a wave? O yes! A drop is nothing of itself, but with You, Jesus, I shall stand up bravely to the whole wave of evil and even to the whole of hell. Your omnipotence can do all things.
Ὠ

Union with God is given in the receiving of mercy through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the soul's continued and growing union desires that the grace it has received be poured out ever more upon all souls - upon the whole world. This is the desire of Mary, seeking to shield souls from the just judgment of God, and that of Faustina's incessant prayers of mercy for her beloved Poland. It is the will of the Savior Himself, dwelling within the soul by grace, Who moves the heart to desire that every receiver of mercy become a participant in its spread. In the Diary, this participation is shown by the Faustinian prayer: “have mercy on us and all the whole world.” At Pentecost, it is shown by Mary and the brethren, persevering together in one mind in prayer as they awaited the promised Holy Spirit. Yet the human pleading for our Lord's presence and mercy on others is more ancient than both of these examples combined.

Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalm 105:23 And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The ways of the Lord are mysterious to men. Yet their slow unveiling through the ages is a guiding revelation into those ways. In both Scripture and the Diary, a mystery is revealed between the foreknowledge of God and His justice and mercy in all things. For throughout Scripture He has often begun by announcing His righteous judgment against sin, only to reveal the triumph of His mercy through the prayers and intercessions of other sinners. It begs the question: why does the Lord begin in righteous judgment, what He already foreknows He will end through pleas of mercy from those also stained in sin? 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!

A soul that stands judged will always plead mercy for itself. Yet, the mercy it receives from He Who dies in mercy for all souls will always surpass its sin. Thus, as judgment begets the begging of mercy, and the outpouring of mercy becomes greater than the offense, the measure of mercy in the world abounds. It exceeds the measure of sin and draws the sinner beyond concern for his own salvation into humble participation in Christ's work of redeeming the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 5:20 Where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

As the life of the Savior exceeded His death on the Cross, so shall the grace that was released in His offering always exceed each soul's death in sin. Thus the Lord bestows upon souls an abundance of grace - not merely for their own sanctification, but that His mercy might overflow through them to others. It is not given merely to be kept, as though mercy were bestowed only for one's own future need. It is given to be released, as in the incessant, and intercessory prayers of Faustina, our Apostle of Divine Mercy - to draw all souls into humble participation with the work of the Savior Himself.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 2:1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2635 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father in behalf of all men... In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints.

https://preview.redd.it/non01cyomkjh1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=b65741c652160d92a7a19366f41f28f91a42d9e9

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 686 - Participation and Intercession

Ἀ
September. First Friday. In the evening, I saw the Mother of God, with Her breast bared and pierced with a sword. She was shedding bitter tears and shielding us against God's terrible punishment. God wants to inflict terrible punishment on us, but He cannot because the Mother of God is shielding us. Horrible fear seized my soul. I kept praying incessantly for Poland, for my dear Poland, which is so lacking in gratitude for the Mother of God. If it were not for the Mother of God, all our efforts would be of little use. I intensified my prayers and sacrifices for our dear native land, but I see that I am a drop before the wave of evil. How can a drop stop a wave? O yes! A drop is nothing of itself, but with You, Jesus, I shall stand up bravely to the whole wave of evil and even to the whole of hell. Your omnipotence can do all things.
Ὠ

Union with God is given in the receiving of mercy through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the soul's continued and growing union desires that the grace it has received be poured out ever more upon all souls - upon the whole world. This is the desire of Mary, seeking to shield souls from the just judgment of God, and that of Faustina's incessant prayers of mercy for her beloved Poland. It is the will of the Savior Himself, dwelling within the soul by grace, Who moves the heart to desire that every receiver of mercy become a participant in its spread. In the Diary, this participation is shown by the Faustinian prayer: “have mercy on us and all the whole world.” At Pentecost, it is shown by Mary and the brethren, persevering together in one mind in prayer as they awaited the promised Holy Spirit. Yet the human pleading for our Lord's presence and mercy on others is more ancient than both of these examples combined.

Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalm 105:23 And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The ways of the Lord are mysterious to men. Yet their slow unveiling through the ages is a guiding revelation into those ways. In both Scripture and the Diary, a mystery is revealed between the foreknowledge of God and His justice and mercy in all things. For throughout Scripture He has often begun by announcing His righteous judgment against sin, only to reveal the triumph of His mercy through the prayers and intercessions of other sinners. It begs the question: why does the Lord begin in righteous judgment, what He already foreknows He will end through pleas of mercy from those also stained in sin? 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!

A soul that stands judged will always plead mercy for itself. Yet, the mercy it receives from He Who dies in mercy for all souls will always surpass its sin. Thus, as judgment begets the begging of mercy, and the outpouring of mercy becomes greater than the offense, the measure of mercy in the world abounds. It exceeds the measure of sin and draws the sinner beyond concern for his own salvation into humble participation in Christ's work of redeeming the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 5:20 Where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

As the life of the Savior exceeded His death on the Cross, so shall the grace that was released in His offering always exceed each soul's death in sin. Thus the Lord bestows upon souls an abundance of grace - not merely for their own sanctification, but that His mercy might overflow through them to others. It is not given merely to be kept, as though mercy were bestowed only for one's own future need. It is given to be released, as in the incessant, and intercessory prayers of Faustina, our Apostle of Divine Mercy - to draw all souls into humble participation with the work of the Savior Himself.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 2:1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2635 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father in behalf of all men... In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints.

https://preview.redd.it/fzkew7inmkjh1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=6e9d408c9725160114cfd018bdc06b09bf1f6dfa

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 686 - Participation and Intercession

Ἀ
September. First Friday. In the evening, I saw the Mother of God, with Her breast bared and pierced with a sword. She was shedding bitter tears and shielding us against God's terrible punishment. God wants to inflict terrible punishment on us, but He cannot because the Mother of God is shielding us. Horrible fear seized my soul. I kept praying incessantly for Poland, for my dear Poland, which is so lacking in gratitude for the Mother of God. If it were not for the Mother of God, all our efforts would be of little use. I intensified my prayers and sacrifices for our dear native land, but I see that I am a drop before the wave of evil. How can a drop stop a wave? O yes! A drop is nothing of itself, but with You, Jesus, I shall stand up bravely to the whole wave of evil and even to the whole of hell. Your omnipotence can do all things.
Ὠ

Union with God is given in the receiving of mercy through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the soul's continued and growing union desires that the grace it has received be poured out ever more upon all souls - upon the whole world. This is the desire of Mary, seeking to shield souls from the just judgment of God, and that of Faustina's incessant prayers of mercy for her beloved Poland. It is the will of the Savior Himself, dwelling within the soul by grace, Who moves the heart to desire that every receiver of mercy become a participant in its spread. In the Diary, this participation is shown by the Faustinian prayer: “have mercy on us and all the whole world.” At Pentecost, it is shown by Mary and the brethren, persevering together in one mind in prayer as they awaited the promised Holy Spirit. Yet the human pleading for our Lord's presence and mercy on others is more ancient than both of these examples combined.

Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalm 105:23 And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The ways of the Lord are mysterious to men. Yet their slow unveiling through the ages is a guiding revelation into those ways. In both Scripture and the Diary, a mystery is revealed between the foreknowledge of God and His justice and mercy in all things. For throughout Scripture He has often begun by announcing His righteous judgment against sin, only to reveal the triumph of His mercy through the prayers and intercessions of other sinners. It begs the question: why does the Lord begin in righteous judgment, what He already foreknows He will end through pleas of mercy from those also stained in sin? 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!

A soul that stands judged will always plead mercy for itself. Yet, the mercy it receives from He Who dies in mercy for all souls will always surpass its sin. Thus, as judgment begets the begging of mercy, and the outpouring of mercy becomes greater than the offense, the measure of mercy in the world abounds. It exceeds the measure of sin and draws the sinner beyond concern for his own salvation into humble participation in Christ's work of redeeming the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 5:20 Where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

As the life of the Savior exceeded His death on the Cross, so shall the grace that was released in His offering always exceed each soul's death in sin. Thus the Lord bestows upon souls an abundance of grace - not merely for their own sanctification, but that His mercy might overflow through them to others. It is not given merely to be kept, as though mercy were bestowed only for one's own future need. It is given to be released, as in the incessant, and intercessory prayers of Faustina, our Apostle of Divine Mercy - to draw all souls into humble participation with the work of the Savior Himself.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 2:1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2635 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father in behalf of all men... In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints.

https://preview.redd.it/tov3p0xlmkjh1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=d5b26c1817a319f100db8f4d83bbf31c538a7f7c

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 686 - Participation and Intercession

Ἀ
September. First Friday. In the evening, I saw the Mother of God, with Her breast bared and pierced with a sword. She was shedding bitter tears and shielding us against God's terrible punishment. God wants to inflict terrible punishment on us, but He cannot because the Mother of God is shielding us. Horrible fear seized my soul. I kept praying incessantly for Poland, for my dear Poland, which is so lacking in gratitude for the Mother of God. If it were not for the Mother of God, all our efforts would be of little use. I intensified my prayers and sacrifices for our dear native land, but I see that I am a drop before the wave of evil. How can a drop stop a wave? O yes! A drop is nothing of itself, but with You, Jesus, I shall stand up bravely to the whole wave of evil and even to the whole of hell. Your omnipotence can do all things.
Ὠ

Union with God is given in the receiving of mercy through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the soul's continued and growing union desires that the grace it has received be poured out ever more upon all souls - upon the whole world. This is the desire of Mary, seeking to shield souls from the just judgment of God, and that of Faustina's incessant prayers of mercy for her beloved Poland. It is the will of the Savior Himself, dwelling within the soul by grace, Who moves the heart to desire that every receiver of mercy become a participant in its spread. In the Diary, this participation is shown by the Faustinian prayer: “have mercy on us and all the whole world.” At Pentecost, it is shown by Mary and the brethren, persevering together in one mind in prayer as they awaited the promised Holy Spirit. Yet the human pleading for our Lord's presence and mercy on others is more ancient than both of these examples combined.

Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalm 105:23 And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The ways of the Lord are mysterious to men. Yet their slow unveiling through the ages is a guiding revelation into those ways. In both Scripture and the Diary, a mystery is revealed between the foreknowledge of God and His justice and mercy in all things. For throughout Scripture He has often begun by announcing His righteous judgment against sin, only to reveal the triumph of His mercy through the prayers and intercessions of other sinners. It begs the question: why does the Lord begin in righteous judgment, what He already foreknows He will end through pleas of mercy from those also stained in sin? 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!

A soul that stands judged will always plead mercy for itself. Yet, the mercy it receives from He Who dies in mercy for all souls will always surpass its sin. Thus, as judgment begets the begging of mercy, and the outpouring of mercy becomes greater than the offense, the measure of mercy in the world abounds. It exceeds the measure of sin and draws the sinner beyond concern for his own salvation into humble participation in Christ's work of redeeming the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Romans 5:20 Where sin abounded, grace did more abound.

As the life of the Savior exceeded His death on the Cross, so shall the grace that was released in His offering always exceed each soul's death in sin. Thus the Lord bestows upon souls an abundance of grace - not merely for their own sanctification, but that His mercy might overflow through them to others. It is not given merely to be kept, as though mercy were bestowed only for one's own future need. It is given to be released, as in the incessant, and intercessory prayers of Faustina, our Apostle of Divine Mercy - to draw all souls into humble participation with the work of the Savior Himself.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 2:1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2635 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father in behalf of all men... In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints.

https://preview.redd.it/540684icrcjh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=590bbb6cd822b2ae7788a2e2c55757bb574f9ab4

Saint Teresa of Avila - The Way of Perfection - The Gaze of the King

Ἀ
I should like to be able to explain the nature of this holy companionship with our great Companion, the Holiest of the holy, in which there is nothing to hinder the soul and her Spouse from remaining alone together, when the soul desires to enter within herself, to shut the door behind her so as to keep out all that is worldly and to dwell in that Paradise with her God. I say "desires", because you must understand that this is not a supernatural state but depends upon our volition, and that, by God's favour, we can enter it of our own accord. For this is not a silence of the faculties: it is a shutting-up of the faculties within itself by the soul. 
Ὠ

Not by silencing the faculties is this recollection given, but by drawing them inward, to abide with the King - in the soul, where He reigns most closely. Elsewhere Teresa speaks of the Lord Himself silencing the faculties to draw the soul into a greater union, but here she speaks of the soul's own willing response to His grace. By God's favour, the soul may withdraw its faculties from the world and gather them within, shutting the door upon distraction so as to dwell in the Paradise of God's presence.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Saint Teresa Continues…
Ἀ
We must cast aside everything else, they say, in order to approach God inwardly and we must retire within ourselves even during our ordinary occupations. If I can recall the companionship which I have within my soul for as much as a moment, that is of great utility. But as I am speaking only about the way to recite vocal prayers well, there is no need for me to say as much as this. All I want is that we should know and abide with the Person with Whom we are speaking, and not turn our backs upon Him; for that, it seems to me, is what we are doing when we talk to God and yet think of all kinds of vanity. 
Ὠ

Here, in the Temple of His Indwelling Presence - abiding in His will and casting cares for else aside - the Lord Himself may or may not silence the faculties according to the need of each soul. Here is all prayer - vocal or mental - perfected in His grace, rather than in the vanity of the soul's own estimation. For the knowledge of Him to Whom we pray destroys separation and creates invitation - to Him Whose closeness is already there.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalms 45:11 Be still and see that I am God.

Saint Teresa Concludes…
Ἀ
The whole mischief comes from our not really grasping the fact that He is near us, and imagining Him far away - so far, that we shall have to go to Heaven in order to find Him. How is it, Lord, that we do not look at Thy face, when it is so near us? We do not think people are listening to us when we are speaking to them unless we see them looking at us. And do we close our eyes so as not to see that Thou art looking at us?
Ὠ

The Lord's look upon us is not for His seeing but ours - that, in union with Him, we may behold what He sees in us. This is not a prayer of comfort but of revelation. For the eyes of the Lord pierce through the distractions we bring to Him, revealing that within us which we would rather not see. It is a discomfort to the soul, because true union with God requires us to see what we would rather hide from Him - and, more painfully, what we would rather hide from ourselves.

Meister Eckhart
The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.

https://preview.redd.it/lpqwpc6lrcjh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=b753aa36ae22cd2144c9f213918a9fe84f5529cd

Saint Teresa of Avila - The Way of Perfection - The Gaze of the King

Ἀ
I should like to be able to explain the nature of this holy companionship with our great Companion, the Holiest of the holy, in which there is nothing to hinder the soul and her Spouse from remaining alone together, when the soul desires to enter within herself, to shut the door behind her so as to keep out all that is worldly and to dwell in that Paradise with her God. I say "desires", because you must understand that this is not a supernatural state but depends upon our volition, and that, by God's favour, we can enter it of our own accord. For this is not a silence of the faculties: it is a shutting-up of the faculties within itself by the soul. 
Ὠ

Not by silencing the faculties is this recollection given, but by drawing them inward, to abide with the King - in the soul, where He reigns most closely. Elsewhere Teresa speaks of the Lord Himself silencing the faculties to draw the soul into a greater union, but here she speaks of the soul's own willing response to His grace. By God's favour, the soul may withdraw its faculties from the world and gather them within, shutting the door upon distraction so as to dwell in the Paradise of God's presence.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Saint Teresa Continues…
Ἀ
We must cast aside everything else, they say, in order to approach God inwardly and we must retire within ourselves even during our ordinary occupations. If I can recall the companionship which I have within my soul for as much as a moment, that is of great utility. But as I am speaking only about the way to recite vocal prayers well, there is no need for me to say as much as this. All I want is that we should know and abide with the Person with Whom we are speaking, and not turn our backs upon Him; for that, it seems to me, is what we are doing when we talk to God and yet think of all kinds of vanity. 
Ὠ

Here, in the Temple of His Indwelling Presence - abiding in His will and casting cares for else aside - the Lord Himself may or may not silence the faculties according to the need of each soul. Here is all prayer - vocal or mental - perfected in His grace, rather than in the vanity of the soul's own estimation. For the knowledge of Him to Whom we pray destroys separation and creates invitation - to Him Whose closeness is already there.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalms 45:11 Be still and see that I am God.

Saint Teresa Concludes…
Ἀ
The whole mischief comes from our not really grasping the fact that He is near us, and imagining Him far away - so far, that we shall have to go to Heaven in order to find Him. How is it, Lord, that we do not look at Thy face, when it is so near us? We do not think people are listening to us when we are speaking to them unless we see them looking at us. And do we close our eyes so as not to see that Thou art looking at us?
Ὠ

The Lord's look upon us is not for His seeing but ours - that, in union with Him, we may behold what He sees in us. This is not a prayer of comfort but of revelation. For the eyes of the Lord pierce through the distractions we bring to Him, revealing that within us which we would rather not see. It is a discomfort to the soul, because true union with God requires us to see what we would rather hide from Him - and, more painfully, what we would rather hide from ourselves.

Meister Eckhart
The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.

https://preview.redd.it/3wc9a8iorcjh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ffff3aebf5321996f2b10ffa754510e74157d38

Saint Teresa of Avila - The Way of Perfection - The Gaze of the King

Ἀ
I should like to be able to explain the nature of this holy companionship with our great Companion, the Holiest of the holy, in which there is nothing to hinder the soul and her Spouse from remaining alone together, when the soul desires to enter within herself, to shut the door behind her so as to keep out all that is worldly and to dwell in that Paradise with her God. I say "desires", because you must understand that this is not a supernatural state but depends upon our volition, and that, by God's favour, we can enter it of our own accord. For this is not a silence of the faculties: it is a shutting-up of the faculties within itself by the soul. 
Ὠ

Not by silencing the faculties is this recollection given, but by drawing them inward, to abide with the King - in the soul, where He reigns most closely. Elsewhere Teresa speaks of the Lord Himself silencing the faculties to draw the soul into a greater union, but here she speaks of the soul's own willing response to His grace. By God's favour, the soul may withdraw its faculties from the world and gather them within, shutting the door upon distraction so as to dwell in the Paradise of God's presence.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Saint Teresa Continues…
Ἀ
We must cast aside everything else, they say, in order to approach God inwardly and we must retire within ourselves even during our ordinary occupations. If I can recall the companionship which I have within my soul for as much as a moment, that is of great utility. But as I am speaking only about the way to recite vocal prayers well, there is no need for me to say as much as this. All I want is that we should know and abide with the Person with Whom we are speaking, and not turn our backs upon Him; for that, it seems to me, is what we are doing when we talk to God and yet think of all kinds of vanity. 
Ὠ

Here, in the Temple of His Indwelling Presence - abiding in His will and casting cares for else aside - the Lord Himself may or may not silence the faculties according to the need of each soul. Here is all prayer - vocal or mental - perfected in His grace, rather than in the vanity of the soul's own estimation. For the knowledge of Him to Whom we pray destroys separation and creates invitation - to Him Whose closeness is already there.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalms 45:11 Be still and see that I am God.

Saint Teresa Concludes…
Ἀ
The whole mischief comes from our not really grasping the fact that He is near us, and imagining Him far away - so far, that we shall have to go to Heaven in order to find Him. How is it, Lord, that we do not look at Thy face, when it is so near us? We do not think people are listening to us when we are speaking to them unless we see them looking at us. And do we close our eyes so as not to see that Thou art looking at us?
Ὠ

The Lord's look upon us is not for His seeing but ours - that, in union with Him, we may behold what He sees in us. This is not a prayer of comfort but of revelation. For the eyes of the Lord pierce through the distractions we bring to Him, revealing that within us which we would rather not see. It is a discomfort to the soul, because true union with God requires us to see what we would rather hide from Him - and, more painfully, what we would rather hide from ourselves.

Meister Eckhart
The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.

https://preview.redd.it/h11y6m2srcjh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=468717a1ad45a3cd0edea4f8da2885a70fd91cd7

Saint Teresa of Avila - The Way of Perfection - The Gaze of the King

Ἀ
I should like to be able to explain the nature of this holy companionship with our great Companion, the Holiest of the holy, in which there is nothing to hinder the soul and her Spouse from remaining alone together, when the soul desires to enter within herself, to shut the door behind her so as to keep out all that is worldly and to dwell in that Paradise with her God. I say "desires", because you must understand that this is not a supernatural state but depends upon our volition, and that, by God's favour, we can enter it of our own accord. For this is not a silence of the faculties: it is a shutting-up of the faculties within itself by the soul. 
Ὠ

Not by silencing the faculties is this recollection given, but by drawing them inward, to abide with the King - in the soul, where He reigns most closely. Elsewhere Teresa speaks of the Lord Himself silencing the faculties to draw the soul into a greater union, but here she speaks of the soul's own willing response to His grace. By God's favour, the soul may withdraw its faculties from the world and gather them within, shutting the door upon distraction so as to dwell in the Paradise of God's presence.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Saint Teresa Continues…
Ἀ
We must cast aside everything else, they say, in order to approach God inwardly and we must retire within ourselves even during our ordinary occupations. If I can recall the companionship which I have within my soul for as much as a moment, that is of great utility. But as I am speaking only about the way to recite vocal prayers well, there is no need for me to say as much as this. All I want is that we should know and abide with the Person with Whom we are speaking, and not turn our backs upon Him; for that, it seems to me, is what we are doing when we talk to God and yet think of all kinds of vanity. 
Ὠ

Here, in the Temple of His Indwelling Presence - abiding in His will and casting cares for else aside - the Lord Himself may or may not silence the faculties according to the need of each soul. Here is all prayer - vocal or mental - perfected in His grace, rather than in the vanity of the soul's own estimation. For the knowledge of Him to Whom we pray destroys separation and creates invitation - to Him Whose closeness is already there.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalms 45:11 Be still and see that I am God.

Saint Teresa Concludes…
Ἀ
The whole mischief comes from our not really grasping the fact that He is near us, and imagining Him far away - so far, that we shall have to go to Heaven in order to find Him. How is it, Lord, that we do not look at Thy face, when it is so near us? We do not think people are listening to us when we are speaking to them unless we see them looking at us. And do we close our eyes so as not to see that Thou art looking at us?
Ὠ

The Lord's look upon us is not for His seeing but ours - that, in union with Him, we may behold what He sees in us. This is not a prayer of comfort but of revelation. For the eyes of the Lord pierce through the distractions we bring to Him, revealing that within us which we would rather not see. It is a discomfort to the soul, because true union with God requires us to see what we would rather hide from Him - and, more painfully, what we would rather hide from ourselves.

Meister Eckhart
The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.

https://preview.redd.it/up35yp32scjh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=e06b1724a01809c2cd6134efb86f09b55fcbeb09

Saint Teresa of Avila - The Way of Perfection - The Gaze of the King

Ἀ
I should like to be able to explain the nature of this holy companionship with our great Companion, the Holiest of the holy, in which there is nothing to hinder the soul and her Spouse from remaining alone together, when the soul desires to enter within herself, to shut the door behind her so as to keep out all that is worldly and to dwell in that Paradise with her God. I say "desires", because you must understand that this is not a supernatural state but depends upon our volition, and that, by God's favour, we can enter it of our own accord. For this is not a silence of the faculties: it is a shutting-up of the faculties within itself by the soul. 
Ὠ

Not by silencing the faculties is this recollection given, but by drawing them inward, to abide with the King - in the soul, where He reigns most closely. Elsewhere Teresa speaks of the Lord Himself silencing the faculties to draw the soul into a greater union, but here she speaks of the soul's own willing response to His grace. By God's favour, the soul may withdraw its faculties from the world and gather them within, shutting the door upon distraction so as to dwell in the Paradise of God's presence.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Saint Teresa Continues…
Ἀ
We must cast aside everything else, they say, in order to approach God inwardly and we must retire within ourselves even during our ordinary occupations. If I can recall the companionship which I have within my soul for as much as a moment, that is of great utility. But as I am speaking only about the way to recite vocal prayers well, there is no need for me to say as much as this. All I want is that we should know and abide with the Person with Whom we are speaking, and not turn our backs upon Him; for that, it seems to me, is what we are doing when we talk to God and yet think of all kinds of vanity. 
Ὠ

Here, in the Temple of His Indwelling Presence - abiding in His will and casting cares for else aside - the Lord Himself may or may not silence the faculties according to the need of each soul. Here is all prayer - vocal or mental - perfected in His grace, rather than in the vanity of the soul's own estimation. For the knowledge of Him to Whom we pray destroys separation and creates invitation - to Him Whose closeness is already there.

Supportive Scripture Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Psalms 45:11 Be still and see that I am God.

Saint Teresa Concludes…
Ἀ
The whole mischief comes from our not really grasping the fact that He is near us, and imagining Him far away - so far, that we shall have to go to Heaven in order to find Him. How is it, Lord, that we do not look at Thy face, when it is so near us? We do not think people are listening to us when we are speaking to them unless we see them looking at us. And do we close our eyes so as not to see that Thou art looking at us?
Ὠ

The Lord's look upon us is not for His seeing but ours - that, in union with Him, we may behold what He sees in us. This is not a prayer of comfort but of revelation. For the eyes of the Lord pierce through the distractions we bring to Him, revealing that within us which we would rather not see. It is a discomfort to the soul, because true union with God requires us to see what we would rather hide from Him - and, more painfully, what we would rather hide from ourselves.

Meister Eckhart
The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.

https://preview.redd.it/ixtlk7sisyhh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ce2907ece169b1bfc15d777d021d6a7507e41e0

Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle - Favors of Sorrow

Ἀ
Do you think that all these favors the Spouse has bestowed on the soul will be sufficient to satisfy the little dove or butterfly - don’t think I have forgotten it - so that it may come to rest in the place where it will die? No, certainly not; rather this little butterfly is much worse. Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain. The reason is that since it is getting to know ever more the grandeurs of its God and sees itself so distant and far from enjoying Him, the desire for the Lord increases much more; also, love increases in the measure the soul discovers how much this great God and Lord deserves to be loved.
Ὠ

In this world the joy of union with the Lord will always be seasoned in sorrow. In this entry however, Saint Teresa does not speak of the bodily sufferings or outward persecutions endured by the great martyrs of the Church. Rather, she reveals an interior suffering granted to the soul as it nears the grandeur of its King. For as the soul draws nearer His Light, its own darkness is revealed ever more painfully. It does not rejoice simply because it sees more clearly; rather, the clearer the vision of God becomes, the more deeply it feels the distance that yet remains.  Thus does the soul suffer even in this favor, knowing itself unworthy of the Light for which it longs even more.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The revelation of one’s own darkness is a painful favor of the Lord - a grace that enlarges the soul’s desire for the Light it has been permitted to behold. As it glimpses a glory that can never be attained by its own work, the soul learns that His presence is not seized by effort but received in surrender. Thus is an ancient prayer born anew, not spoken in word but proclaimed in silence from the depths of the heart.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Isaiah 26:9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning, early I will watch to thee. 

He who pursues his own union with God gains little. Yet the soul that waits upon the Lord - even in sorrow - is given much. For the pursuit is done in self-will, thinking union may be achieved through its own work, and according to its own time. But the waiting is done in self-knowledge, not mistaking the favors of the Lord for signs of its own holiness. Rather, it receives them as witnesses to the infinite majesty of the King - to be received only in His appointed time.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 6:15-16  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Who only hath immortality and inhabiteth light inaccessible.

The times of the world are not the times of the Lord. Therein lies the wisdom of Teresa's words: “Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain.” God's favors are not given chiefly to satisfy the soul's longing in this life, nor is the sorrow that accompanies them meant to discourage it. Rather the favors of sorrow uplift the eye of the soul away from the grief of the world to the everlasting joy of the Kingdom, where in God’s time rather than ours, the sorrows endured now give way to the Light received then, as we come to know Him as He has always known us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.

https://preview.redd.it/oy9tsyeez5ih1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ff8204b74d6bf2c2b4b16713eb66d9af7bb82d2

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 667 - The Entrustment of Grace

Ἀ
677 During a Mass celebrated by Father Andrasz, a moment before the Elevation, God's presence pervaded my soul, which was drawn to the altar. Then I saw the Mother of God with the Infant Jesus. The Infant Jesus was holding onto the hand of Our Lady. A moment later, the Infant Jesus ran with joy to the center of the altar, and the Mother of God said to me, See with what assurance I entrust Jesus into his hands. In the same way, you are to entrust your soul and be like a child to him.
Ὠ

The graces of God, given to souls, are not for our keeping alone. They are, as in the Mother's example, an entrustment for others as well - lively as it moves in the heart and overflowing to the world beyond. In this entry the example was already begun in the Father's giving of His Son to humanity. It is carried forth as the Mother entrusts Him into the hands of the priest, and brought to fulfillment as the Infant Jesus rushes to the altar of His own Sacrifice. 

Mary's teaching in this entry seems twofold. If a soul entrusts itself to the Savior, it will be led, in the innocent faith of the child, to the Marian example of entrusting the gift of the Savior to all humanity. In this way no souls are left as bystanders in the course of salvation history. All become participants in the ongoing entrustment of Divine Mercy, receiving Christ and bearing Him to others according to the vocation God has entrusted to each soul.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Exodus 19:6 And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.

Saint Faustina Concludes…
After these words, my soul was filled with unusual trust. The Mother of God was clothed in a white dress, strangely white, transparent; on Her shoulders She had a transparent blue; that is, a blue-like mantle; with uncovered head [and] flowing hair, She was exquisite, and inconceivably beautiful. She was looking at Father with great tenderness, but after a moment, He broke up this beautiful Child, and living blood flowed forth. Father bent forward and received the true and living Jesus into himself. Had he eaten Him? I do not know how this took place. Jesus, Jesus, I cannot keep up with You, for in an instant, You become incomprehensible to me.

The beauty of the act gives beauty to the soul. With the giving over of her Son to the Sacrifice of the Mass, Faustina's vision of Our Lady transforms into one which reveals the heavenly beauty of what she has done. It is the beauty of the entrustment of grace, the continual giving of the gift received from the Father rather than the hoarding of it for oneself. Yet it is in the revelation of such grace that the true cost of its beauty is suddenly and vividly revealed, as the Infant Jesus is broken, bled and received into sinful humanity.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:56-57 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him.

 
As the beauty of the ritual gives place to the cruel reality of the sacrifice, the harshness of this teaching is made clear - and the faith of Faustina is tried. For this vision does not lead our Apostle of Divine Mercy to a joyous enlightenment that would impress many theological scholars of the world. She is instead led into bewilderment and confusion at the graphic and incomprehensible sight of our Lord - as an infant - giving Himself over to the consumption of sinful humanity. Not that the mystery should be reduced to the measure of human understanding. But rather, that faith may be tested, shown, and given forward to all souls, lest in the hardness of the teaching, we bury the entrustment of grace instead of walking in it and passing it on to those whom God places before us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:67 After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
The grace of our Lord is never possessed as a private treasure. It is first received with childlike trust, then entrusted in love, passing from the Father through Christ, His Church, and into every soul willing to receive and bear Him onward.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1270
Having become a child of God, the baptized person is called to profess before men the faith he has received from God through the Church.

https://preview.redd.it/1whd5m5uz5ih1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=561459d073d12f81e927f5f06d85de972f204bfe

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 667 - The Entrustment of Grace

Ἀ
677 During a Mass celebrated by Father Andrasz, a moment before the Elevation, God's presence pervaded my soul, which was drawn to the altar. Then I saw the Mother of God with the Infant Jesus. The Infant Jesus was holding onto the hand of Our Lady. A moment later, the Infant Jesus ran with joy to the center of the altar, and the Mother of God said to me, See with what assurance I entrust Jesus into his hands. In the same way, you are to entrust your soul and be like a child to him.
Ὠ

The graces of God, given to souls, are not for our keeping alone. They are, as in the Mother's example, an entrustment for others as well - lively as it moves in the heart and overflowing to the world beyond. In this entry the example was already begun in the Father's giving of His Son to humanity. It is carried forth as the Mother entrusts Him into the hands of the priest, and brought to fulfillment as the Infant Jesus rushes to the altar of His own Sacrifice. 

Mary's teaching in this entry seems twofold. If a soul entrusts itself to the Savior, it will be led, in the innocent faith of the child, to the Marian example of entrusting the gift of the Savior to all humanity. In this way no souls are left as bystanders in the course of salvation history. All become participants in the ongoing entrustment of Divine Mercy, receiving Christ and bearing Him to others according to the vocation God has entrusted to each soul.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Exodus 19:6 And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.

Saint Faustina Concludes…
After these words, my soul was filled with unusual trust. The Mother of God was clothed in a white dress, strangely white, transparent; on Her shoulders She had a transparent blue; that is, a blue-like mantle; with uncovered head [and] flowing hair, She was exquisite, and inconceivably beautiful. She was looking at Father with great tenderness, but after a moment, He broke up this beautiful Child, and living blood flowed forth. Father bent forward and received the true and living Jesus into himself. Had he eaten Him? I do not know how this took place. Jesus, Jesus, I cannot keep up with You, for in an instant, You become incomprehensible to me.

The beauty of the act gives beauty to the soul. With the giving over of her Son to the Sacrifice of the Mass, Faustina's vision of Our Lady transforms into one which reveals the heavenly beauty of what she has done. It is the beauty of the entrustment of grace, the continual giving of the gift received from the Father rather than the hoarding of it for oneself. Yet it is in the revelation of such grace that the true cost of its beauty is suddenly and vividly revealed, as the Infant Jesus is broken, bled and received into sinful humanity.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:56-57 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him.

 
As the beauty of the ritual gives place to the cruel reality of the sacrifice, the harshness of this teaching is made clear - and the faith of Faustina is tried. For this vision does not lead our Apostle of Divine Mercy to a joyous enlightenment that would impress many theological scholars of the world. She is instead led into bewilderment and confusion at the graphic and incomprehensible sight of our Lord - as an infant - giving Himself over to the consumption of sinful humanity. Not that the mystery should be reduced to the measure of human understanding. But rather, that faith may be tested, shown, and given forward to all souls, lest in the hardness of the teaching, we bury the entrustment of grace instead of walking in it and passing it on to those whom God places before us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:67 After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
The grace of our Lord is never possessed as a private treasure. It is first received with childlike trust, then entrusted in love, passing from the Father through Christ, His Church, and into every soul willing to receive and bear Him onward.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1270
Having become a child of God, the baptized person is called to profess before men the faith he has received from God through the Church.

https://preview.redd.it/punv6phxz5ih1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=f0ab1db31fa18ccc102c1b134c7fdc2c93a53488

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 667 - The Entrustment of Grace

Ἀ
677 During a Mass celebrated by Father Andrasz, a moment before the Elevation, God's presence pervaded my soul, which was drawn to the altar. Then I saw the Mother of God with the Infant Jesus. The Infant Jesus was holding onto the hand of Our Lady. A moment later, the Infant Jesus ran with joy to the center of the altar, and the Mother of God said to me, See with what assurance I entrust Jesus into his hands. In the same way, you are to entrust your soul and be like a child to him.
Ὠ

The graces of God, given to souls, are not for our keeping alone. They are, as in the Mother's example, an entrustment for others as well - lively as it moves in the heart and overflowing to the world beyond. In this entry the example was already begun in the Father's giving of His Son to humanity. It is carried forth as the Mother entrusts Him into the hands of the priest, and brought to fulfillment as the Infant Jesus rushes to the altar of His own Sacrifice. 

Mary's teaching in this entry seems twofold. If a soul entrusts itself to the Savior, it will be led, in the innocent faith of the child, to the Marian example of entrusting the gift of the Savior to all humanity. In this way no souls are left as bystanders in the course of salvation history. All become participants in the ongoing entrustment of Divine Mercy, receiving Christ and bearing Him to others according to the vocation God has entrusted to each soul.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Exodus 19:6 And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.

Saint Faustina Concludes…
After these words, my soul was filled with unusual trust. The Mother of God was clothed in a white dress, strangely white, transparent; on Her shoulders She had a transparent blue; that is, a blue-like mantle; with uncovered head [and] flowing hair, She was exquisite, and inconceivably beautiful. She was looking at Father with great tenderness, but after a moment, He broke up this beautiful Child, and living blood flowed forth. Father bent forward and received the true and living Jesus into himself. Had he eaten Him? I do not know how this took place. Jesus, Jesus, I cannot keep up with You, for in an instant, You become incomprehensible to me.

The beauty of the act gives beauty to the soul. With the giving over of her Son to the Sacrifice of the Mass, Faustina's vision of Our Lady transforms into one which reveals the heavenly beauty of what she has done. It is the beauty of the entrustment of grace, the continual giving of the gift received from the Father rather than the hoarding of it for oneself. Yet it is in the revelation of such grace that the true cost of its beauty is suddenly and vividly revealed, as the Infant Jesus is broken, bled and received into sinful humanity.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:56-57 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him.

 
As the beauty of the ritual gives place to the cruel reality of the sacrifice, the harshness of this teaching is made clear - and the faith of Faustina is tried. For this vision does not lead our Apostle of Divine Mercy to a joyous enlightenment that would impress many theological scholars of the world. She is instead led into bewilderment and confusion at the graphic and incomprehensible sight of our Lord - as an infant - giving Himself over to the consumption of sinful humanity. Not that the mystery should be reduced to the measure of human understanding. But rather, that faith may be tested, shown, and given forward to all souls, lest in the hardness of the teaching, we bury the entrustment of grace instead of walking in it and passing it on to those whom God places before us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 6:67 After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
The grace of our Lord is never possessed as a private treasure. It is first received with childlike trust, then entrusted in love, passing from the Father through Christ, His Church, and into every soul willing to receive and bear Him onward.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1270
Having become a child of God, the baptized person is called to profess before men the faith he has received from God through the Church.

https://preview.redd.it/ixtlk7sisyhh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ce2907ece169b1bfc15d777d021d6a7507e41e0

Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle - Favors of Sorrow

Ἀ
Do you think that all these favors the Spouse has bestowed on the soul will be sufficient to satisfy the little dove or butterfly - don’t think I have forgotten it - so that it may come to rest in the place where it will die? No, certainly not; rather this little butterfly is much worse. Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain. The reason is that since it is getting to know ever more the grandeurs of its God and sees itself so distant and far from enjoying Him, the desire for the Lord increases much more; also, love increases in the measure the soul discovers how much this great God and Lord deserves to be loved.
Ὠ

In this world the joy of union with the Lord will always be seasoned in sorrow. In this entry however, Saint Teresa does not speak of the bodily sufferings or outward persecutions endured by the great martyrs of the Church. Rather, she reveals an interior suffering granted to the soul as it nears the grandeur of its King. For as the soul draws nearer His Light, its own darkness is revealed ever more painfully. It does not rejoice simply because it sees more clearly; rather, the clearer the vision of God becomes, the more deeply it feels the distance that yet remains.  Thus does the soul suffer even in this favor, knowing itself unworthy of the Light for which it longs even more.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The revelation of one’s own darkness is a painful favor of the Lord - a grace that enlarges the soul’s desire for the Light it has been permitted to behold. As it glimpses a glory that can never be attained by its own work, the soul learns that His presence is not seized by effort but received in surrender. Thus is an ancient prayer born anew, not spoken in word but proclaimed in silence from the depths of the heart.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Isaiah 26:9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning, early I will watch to thee. 

He who pursues his own union with God gains little. Yet the soul that waits upon the Lord - even in sorrow - is given much. For the pursuit is done in self-will, thinking union may be achieved through its own work, and according to its own time. But the waiting is done in self-knowledge, not mistaking the favors of the Lord for signs of its own holiness. Rather, it receives them as witnesses to the infinite majesty of the King - to be received only in His appointed time.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 6:15-16  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Who only hath immortality and inhabiteth light inaccessible.

The times of the world are not the times of the Lord. Therein lies the wisdom of Teresa's words: “Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain.” God's favors are not given chiefly to satisfy the soul's longing in this life, nor is the sorrow that accompanies them meant to discourage it. Rather the favors of sorrow uplift the eye of the soul away from the grief of the world to the everlasting joy of the Kingdom, where in God’s time rather than ours, the sorrows endured now give way to the Light received then, as we come to know Him as He has always known us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.

https://preview.redd.it/wojvs6pvsyhh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=791de83bfc350868ff8026e919611c75aeecc7eb

Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle - Favors of Sorrow

Ἀ
Do you think that all these favors the Spouse has bestowed on the soul will be sufficient to satisfy the little dove or butterfly - don’t think I have forgotten it - so that it may come to rest in the place where it will die? No, certainly not; rather this little butterfly is much worse. Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain. The reason is that since it is getting to know ever more the grandeurs of its God and sees itself so distant and far from enjoying Him, the desire for the Lord increases much more; also, love increases in the measure the soul discovers how much this great God and Lord deserves to be loved.
Ὠ

In this world the joy of union with the Lord will always be seasoned in sorrow. In this entry however, Saint Teresa does not speak of the bodily sufferings or outward persecutions endured by the great martyrs of the Church. Rather, she reveals an interior suffering granted to the soul as it nears the grandeur of its King. For as the soul draws nearer His Light, its own darkness is revealed ever more painfully. It does not rejoice simply because it sees more clearly; rather, the clearer the vision of God becomes, the more deeply it feels the distance that yet remains.  Thus does the soul suffer even in this favor, knowing itself unworthy of the Light for which it longs even more.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The revelation of one’s own darkness is a painful favor of the Lord - a grace that enlarges the soul’s desire for the Light it has been permitted to behold. As it glimpses a glory that can never be attained by its own work, the soul learns that His presence is not seized by effort but received in surrender. Thus is an ancient prayer born anew, not spoken in word but proclaimed in silence from the depths of the heart.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Isaiah 26:9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning, early I will watch to thee. 

He who pursues his own union with God gains little. Yet the soul that waits upon the Lord - even in sorrow - is given much. For the pursuit is done in self-will, thinking union may be achieved through its own work, and according to its own time. But the waiting is done in self-knowledge, not mistaking the favors of the Lord for signs of its own holiness. Rather, it receives them as witnesses to the infinite majesty of the King - to be received only in His appointed time.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 6:15-16  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Who only hath immortality and inhabiteth light inaccessible.

The times of the world are not the times of the Lord. Therein lies the wisdom of Teresa's words: “Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain.” God's favors are not given chiefly to satisfy the soul's longing in this life, nor is the sorrow that accompanies them meant to discourage it. Rather the favors of sorrow uplift the eye of the soul away from the grief of the world to the everlasting joy of the Kingdom, where in God’s time rather than ours, the sorrows endured now give way to the Light received then, as we come to know Him as He has always known us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.

https://preview.redd.it/xnzsyxbtsyhh1.png?width=4435&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b87e1986641441cdf50c5744151d58965dc4bc0

Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle - Favors of Sorrow

Ἀ
Do you think that all these favors the Spouse has bestowed on the soul will be sufficient to satisfy the little dove or butterfly - don’t think I have forgotten it - so that it may come to rest in the place where it will die? No, certainly not; rather this little butterfly is much worse. Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain. The reason is that since it is getting to know ever more the grandeurs of its God and sees itself so distant and far from enjoying Him, the desire for the Lord increases much more; also, love increases in the measure the soul discovers how much this great God and Lord deserves to be loved.
Ὠ

In this world the joy of union with the Lord will always be seasoned in sorrow. In this entry however, Saint Teresa does not speak of the bodily sufferings or outward persecutions endured by the great martyrs of the Church. Rather, she reveals an interior suffering granted to the soul as it nears the grandeur of its King. For as the soul draws nearer His Light, its own darkness is revealed ever more painfully. It does not rejoice simply because it sees more clearly; rather, the clearer the vision of God becomes, the more deeply it feels the distance that yet remains.  Thus does the soul suffer even in this favor, knowing itself unworthy of the Light for which it longs even more.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The revelation of one’s own darkness is a painful favor of the Lord - a grace that enlarges the soul’s desire for the Light it has been permitted to behold. As it glimpses a glory that can never be attained by its own work, the soul learns that His presence is not seized by effort but received in surrender. Thus is an ancient prayer born anew, not spoken in word but proclaimed in silence from the depths of the heart.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Isaiah 26:9 My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning, early I will watch to thee. 

He who pursues his own union with God gains little. Yet the soul that waits upon the Lord - even in sorrow - is given much. For the pursuit is done in self-will, thinking union may be achieved through its own work, and according to its own time. But the waiting is done in self-knowledge, not mistaking the favors of the Lord for signs of its own holiness. Rather, it receives them as witnesses to the infinite majesty of the King - to be received only in His appointed time.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Timothy 6:15-16  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Who only hath immortality and inhabiteth light inaccessible.

The times of the world are not the times of the Lord. Therein lies the wisdom of Teresa's words: “Even though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain.” God's favors are not given chiefly to satisfy the soul's longing in this life, nor is the sorrow that accompanies them meant to discourage it. Rather the favors of sorrow uplift the eye of the soul away from the grief of the world to the everlasting joy of the Kingdom, where in God’s time rather than ours, the sorrows endured now give way to the Light received then, as we come to know Him as He has always known us.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.

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Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 635 - The Mother’s Warning

Ἀ
635 I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing to God is the soul that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I gave the Savior to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. 
Ὠ

Faith in the Kingdom above that does not lead to works in the world below is dead. Likewise, grace from the King bestowed upon His servants - if it does not inspire its proclamation to all souls - dies within the soul to whom it was given. 

In this entry from the Diary, Our Lady begins with a joyful message for souls who faithfully follow the inspirations of our Lord's grace, but concludes with a motherly warning for those who do not. Her Son - our Merciful Savior - gave all of Himself in grace for every soul. Thus it is fitting that our King, who shall come again as Just Judge on the Day of Justice, will require much to have been done with the grace He has so abundantly bestowed.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 12:48 And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.

No greater gift has been given than the grace of eternal life through the death of Life's very Source. In this gift, the mercy of the Savior and the Justice of the King are found in perfect harmony. It is a mystery beyond the reach of human reasoning - not to be mastered by the intellect, but embraced in faith and proclaimed to all souls according to the will of God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Mark 1:5 And saying: The time is accomplished and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.

The failure to participate in the coming of the Kingdom brings separation; the soul that joins itself to its coming enters into union. In no one is this union revealed more perfectly than in Mary. By her faithful participation in the first coming of Christ, she can rightly proclaim, “I gave the Savior to the world.” Thus she is rightly called the Mother of  God. And through the adoption of grace, all who faithfully proclaim her Son become children of the Father, brothers of Christ, and disciples who, like Mary, bear Him to the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Ephesians 1:5 Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and  live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it.

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Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 635 - The Mother’s Warning

Ἀ
635 I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing to God is the soul that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I gave the Savior to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. 
Ὠ

Faith in the Kingdom above that does not lead to works in the world below is dead. Likewise, grace from the King bestowed upon His servants - if it does not inspire its proclamation to all souls - dies within the soul to whom it was given. 

In this entry from the Diary, Our Lady begins with a joyful message for souls who faithfully follow the inspirations of our Lord's grace, but concludes with a motherly warning for those who do not. Her Son - our Merciful Savior - gave all of Himself in grace for every soul. Thus it is fitting that our King, who shall come again as Just Judge on the Day of Justice, will require much to have been done with the grace He has so abundantly bestowed.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 12:48 And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.

No greater gift has been given than the grace of eternal life through the death of Life's very Source. In this gift, the mercy of the Savior and the Justice of the King are found in perfect harmony. It is a mystery beyond the reach of human reasoning - not to be mastered by the intellect, but embraced in faith and proclaimed to all souls according to the will of God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Mark 1:5 And saying: The time is accomplished and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.

The failure to participate in the coming of the Kingdom brings separation; the soul that joins itself to its coming enters into union. In no one is this union revealed more perfectly than in Mary. By her faithful participation in the first coming of Christ, she can rightly proclaim, “I gave the Savior to the world.” Thus she is rightly called the Mother of  God. And through the adoption of grace, all who faithfully proclaim her Son become children of the Father, brothers of Christ, and disciples who, like Mary, bear Him to the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Ephesians 1:5 Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and  live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it.

https://preview.redd.it/mms1hty8zrgh1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=b5c29f36099f498774efb9b4cdd1987e2d44e336

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 635 - The Mother’s Warning

Ἀ
635 I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing to God is the soul that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I gave the Savior to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. 
Ὠ

Faith in the Kingdom above that does not lead to works in the world below is dead. Likewise, grace from the King bestowed upon His servants - if it does not inspire its proclamation to all souls - dies within the soul to whom it was given. 

In this entry from the Diary, Our Lady begins with a joyful message for souls who faithfully follow the inspirations of our Lord's grace, but concludes with a motherly warning for those who do not. Her Son - our Merciful Savior - gave all of Himself in grace for every soul. Thus it is fitting that our King, who shall come again as Just Judge on the Day of Justice, will require much to have been done with the grace He has so abundantly bestowed.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 12:48 And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.

No greater gift has been given than the grace of eternal life through the death of Life's very Source. In this gift, the mercy of the Savior and the Justice of the King are found in perfect harmony. It is a mystery beyond the reach of human reasoning - not to be mastered by the intellect, but embraced in faith and proclaimed to all souls according to the will of God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Mark 1:5 And saying: The time is accomplished and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.

The failure to participate in the coming of the Kingdom brings separation; the soul that joins itself to its coming enters into union. In no one is this union revealed more perfectly than in Mary. By her faithful participation in the first coming of Christ, she can rightly proclaim, “I gave the Savior to the world.” Thus she is rightly called the Mother of  God. And through the adoption of grace, all who faithfully proclaim her Son become children of the Father, brothers of Christ, and disciples who, like Mary, bear Him to the world.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Ephesians 1:5 Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and  live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it.

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Letter of Saint Catherine of Siena - Virtue and Love 

Ἀ
I say that if one abides in God, even if virtue should fail in him who loves, yet love does not turn away. The love of the virtue which is not there fails to be sure; but it does not fail in so far as a man is a creature of God, His member, bound in the mystical body of the Holy Church. Nay, there grows within one a love made up of great and true compassion, and with desire he brings his friend to the birth, with tears and sighs and continual prayers in the sweet Presence of God. Now this is the affection which Christ left to His disciples, which never lessens or grows languid, and is not impatient for any injury it receives; there is no spirit of criticism in it nor displeasure, because it loves the friend, not for himself, but for God. It does not judge nor want to judge the will of men, but the will of its Creator, which seeks and wills naught but our sanctification. And it joys in what God permits, of whatsoever kind it be, since it seeks naught but the honour of its Creator and the salvation of its neighbour. Truly may we say that such men are bound in the bond of charity with the band which held God-and-Man fast and nailed on the wood of the most holy and sweet Cross.
Ὠ

Virtue may fail in the heart of the man. But for the soul which abides in the Lord, there remains a mystical bond to the love it was given by Him. It is transformed - if not yet perfected - by Him whose love exceeds what the soul lacks in its virtue. In this letter, Saint Catherine does not brush aside the importance of virtue. Rather she exalts the first and truest virtue, the love of our Lord - given to souls as a seed from which all other virtues then grow.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh.

Within this new heart, there grows the human participation in the eternal love of God - the love which existed before creation itself, before there was any creature to receive it. Yet it was on this love that the creation was first founded. For creation itself is the free expression of that eternal love, called into being not because God lacked someone to love, but because Love delights in the giving of itself to another. For in this way the creature itself inherits the love of the Creator: finding its joy in what He permits and seeking naught but the honor of God and the salvation of its neighbor.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Matthew 22:37-40 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.

Ἀ
Saint Catherine Continues…
But think, sons mine, that you would never reach this perfect union did you not hold as your object Christ crucified, and follow His footsteps. For in Him you will find this love, who has loved you by grace and not by duty. And because He loves by grace, He has never grown languid in His love, neither for our ingratitude nor ignorance nor pride nor vanity, but ever persevering, even to the shameful death of the Cross, freeing us from death and giving us life. Now so do you, my sons, learn - learn from Him. Love, love one another, with pure and holy love, in Christ sweet Jesus.
Ὠ

Here Saint Catherine reveals, perfect union is not achieved by imperfect souls unable to succeed in their own virtue. Rather it is given to the soul in our crucified Savior, the same new heart and spirit promised in Scripture. In this, the divine exchange of grace, the stony heart of humanity suffers its own sacrifice for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the soul which holds as its object Christ Crucified is made new. No longer will this soul love by duty but in the grace of God, which never grows languid from the vanity or ingratitude of another. For in this heart, the soul's failure in virtue is overcome by the triumph of God’s love within - which does not turn away but is ever persevering, even to the sacrifice of self for the more holy love of another.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
1827 The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which 'binds everything together in perfect harmony'; it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice.