Sister Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament

by Gerard Duff

The name we are given at our baptism is often chosen for us for a variety of reasons, such as the name of a particular saint or relative that our parents think would be a suitable role model for us to imitate. In the Old and New Testaments names given to the prophets or saints tell us of the particular mission that God has set aside for the person named and chosen by Him. For example Simon is to be renamed Peter meaning rock indicating his future mission as leader of the church (Mt 16:16) St. Joseph is to name the child Jesus indicating His role as savior (Lk: 1-31).

In religious life names are also chosen after a patron that would make a suitable role model. Sister Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament tells us that the Blessed Sacrament is to be the key foundation stone in her spiritual life. Although it looks as if when reading her name that Faustina appears first, she attaches herself to the Eucharist by the word ‘of’ coming were it does. This places Jesus first and herself second indicating that she belongs to Jesus in service and sacrifice; which is the way she desired to be:

“O my Jesus I understand the meaning of “host”, the meaning of sacrifice. I desire to be before Your Majesty a living host; that is, a living sacrifice that daily burns in your honor” (D.S.F.1826).

The hallmark of her spirituality is the unity that is afforded her by Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

“Here, I am entirely yours soul, body, and divinity as your Bridegroom” (D.S.F.1770).

The communion that she shared with Jesus was a relationship in the fullest sense that a person can have this side of heaven. Holy Communion for Faustina was a deep loving relationship that affected every aspect of her life. The strength that she gained from the graces that she received in Holy Communion helped her grow in love of God and neighbor. By repeating the pattern of the Eucharist in her life she is Blessed by trusting in the merciful love of Jesus; Broken in the way that she suffered and sacrificed her life; Given in the way that she offered her life for the redemptive work of Christ.

In his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia Pope John Paul II has stressed the importance of the Second Vatican Council's teaching concerning all the faithful:

“Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is the source and summit of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God, and themselves along with it”.

Jesus took bread blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, repeating this Eucharistic pattern in Faustina's life meant in reality living the same kind of life that Jesus lived: love of God, prayer, daily self sacrifice, cross bearing, service to neighbor, all of these activities allowed her to exercise Divine Mercy in all three degrees Word, Prayer, and Deed. The three degrees of mercy are the foundation for her mission of mercy entrusted to her by Jesus. Saint Faustina desired to be a dwelling place a living temple for Christ acknowledging that all the good in her was due to Jesus:

“All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion. I owe everything to it. I feel that this holy fire has transformed me completely. Oh, how happy I am to be a dwelling place for you! My heart is a temple in which you dwell continually...” (D.F.S.1392).

Sister Faustina's interior life was completely transformed through the intimate relationship she had with Christ because of this she became an excellent example of community. Community in this sense must be given a wider understanding that includes her family, religious order and neighbors, but also the holy souls and the saints. By exercising mercy to the wider community Saint Faustina is an excellent example of Church. She sets us an example through her ministry to the community of saints that reflects an image of Christ's merciful love:

July 9,1937. This evening, one of our deceased sisters came and asked me for one day of fasting and to offer all my (spiritual) exercises on that day for her. I answered that I would. (D.S.F.1185)

The same Eucharistic spirit with which she reached out to this suffering soul in purgatory is the way that she ministered to all the members of the community either living or dead.

Saint Faustina had a very rich spiritual life drawing from a deep well spring of prayer that included meditation on Sacred Scripture, Psalms, Holy Rosary and the Holy Office as well as those prayers given to her by Jesus Himself that honor His Divine Mercy. A particular favorite of hers is The Chaplet of Mercy recommended to her by Jesus especially for the conversation of sinners, dying, and holy souls in purgatory. The prayer itself is Eucharistic and is a summary of the sacrifice of the mass.

Jesus often appeared to Saint Faustina as the Merciful Savior and desired, that she have an image painted from what she saw with the words “Jesus I trust in you” printed on it. In order that all might be encouraged to becoming trusting in the merciful love of Jesus. On a number of occasions she witnessed the rays of mercy coming from the Eucharist:

“I saw the two rays as painted in the image, issue from the host and spread over the whole world”. (D.F.S.1046)

There is no doubt that Jesus revealed to Faustina the depths of His merciful love in the image that she saw, or that He wished us to know that it is fully present in the sacrament.

In the course of her life Sister Faustina desired to be transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus praying

“Transform me into yourself, O Jesus, that I may be a living sacrifice and pleasing to you”. (D.S.F.908)

This change was accomplished by the courageous trust that she placed in Jesus and by her obedience to all the graces she received. The sacrament for her was heavenly food that nourished her body and spirit, through life's journey helping her to exercise a whole range of virtues such as charity, justice, and patients toward her neighbor even during continual failing health.

In the course of her life, Saint Faustina became in truth what we all long to become the image and likeness of the living Christ. She took on the image of Christ through her works of mercy, and the likeness of Christ by allowing her heart to be transformed into love by the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She could lay claim to Saint Paul's statement in Gal 2:20 “I no longer live but Christ lives in me”. In this year of the Eucharist the Pope tells us in his encyclical letter that in this mystery of mercy Jesus shows us in the Eucharistic “a love that goes to the end” (cf Jn 13: 1) “ a love which knows no measure”. Through the example of Saint Faustina's life we can learn how to receive Jesus as she did:

“The most solemn moment of my life is the moment when I receive Holy Communion. I long for each Holy Communion, and for every Holy Communion I give thanks to the most Holy Trinity” (D.S.F.1804)

Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. www.thedivinemercy.org Used with permission and gratitude.