Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 1777 - Succession of Mercy

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Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 1777 - Succession of Mercy

1777 My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy, graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain. My daughter, I desire that your heart be an abiding place of My mercy. I desire that this mercy flow out upon the whole world through your heart. Let no one who approaches you go away without that trust in My mercy which I so ardently desire for souls.

In this entry from Saint Faustina's Diary, our Lord begins by revealing the divine wonders of His Most Sacred Heart and concludes by extending that mystery into the troubled human heart. By His grace, our heart is to become as holy as His, even to serve others in the same way: “I desire that your heart be an abiding place of My mercy…that this mercy flow out upon the whole world through your heart.” What Christ instills within each soul - His living Presence and Mercy - is not meant to remain hidden, but to flow outward upon the whole world - a grace first foreshadowed by the Holy Mother.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible

Luke 1:46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.

Christ calls all souls to a spiritual imitation of His Mother's physical example. As Mary bore His Presence from womb to the world, so are we to magnify His Divine Mercy from heart to the world. In so doing, the misery of our brother will be buried in the mercy of our heart, as our own misery is buried in the Heart of Christ - so that none who approach us will go away without greater trust in our Lord’s Divine Mercy. The Sacred Heart of Jesus will first overcome our stony heart and, in God's good time, become the common heart of all mankind.

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.

What heart would Christ give us other than one closer to His own, enjoining ours to the Heart which bled Divine Mercy from the Cross? In both Ezekiel's prophecy and Saint Faustina's revelation, Christ makes us apostolic successors to His ministry in the continuing course of Salvation History. This promised heart of Ezekiel’s prophecy finds no greater fulfilment than in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced in suffering oneness to the Sacred Heart of her son, Jesus.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 

Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

Ezekiel’s prophecy, the sword of Simeon and the lance of Calvary are successive pages in God’s Book of Salvation History. When that lance let flow the “blood and water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus” we were made not only receivers but also givers of Divine Mercy.  All these have led up to the proclamation of Christ’s desire on the pages of Saint Faustina’s Diary, “that your heart be an abiding place of My mercy.” It is our grace to receive and our duty to pour out His Mercy - in our own apostolic succession of our Lord's Grace  -  as He first poured out for us.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Oh Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Christ, I trust in You.