Divine Mercy: the thought of Saint Faustina today 16 August

1. Reproduce the mercy of the Lord. - Today the Lord said to me: "My daughter, look at my merciful heart and reproduce his mercy in your heart, so that you who announce my mercy to the world, may you yourself burn with it for souls".

2. The image of the merciful Savior. - "Through this image I will bestow graces without number, but it is necessary that it serves equally to remember the practical needs of mercy because faith, even very strong, is of no use if it is devoid of works".

3. The Sunday of Divine Mercy. - "The second Sunday of Easter is the day destined for the feast that I want to be solemnly celebrated, but on that day mercy must also appear in your actions".

4. You must give a lot. - «My daughter, I desire that your heart is modeled on the measure of my merciful heart. My mercy must overflow from you. Since you received much, you in turn give much to others as well. Think carefully about these words of mine and never forget them ».

5. I absorb God. - I want to identify myself in Jesus in order to give myself perfectly to other souls. Without him, I would not even dare to approach other souls, knowing well what I personally am, but I absorb God in order to be able to give him to others.

6. The three degrees of mercy. - Lord, you want me to practice the three degrees of mercy, as you taught me:
1) The work of mercy, of whatever kind, spiritual or corporal.
2) The word of mercy, which I will use especially when I will not be able to operate.
3) The prayer of mercy, which I will always be able to use even when I miss the opportunity for the work or for the word: prayer always reaches even where it is impossible to arrive in any other way.

7. He passed by doing good. - Whatever Jesus did, he did it well, as it is written in the Gospel. His outward attitude overflowed with goodness, mercy guided his steps: he showed understanding to his enemies, indulgence and courtesy to all; he gave help and consolation to the needy. I have proposed to faithfully reflect in myself these traits of Jesus, even if this should cost me a lot: "I am pleased with your efforts, my daughter!".

8. When we forgive. - We are more like God when we forgive our neighbor. God is love, goodness and mercy. Jesus said to me: «Every soul must reflect my mercy in itself, especially souls devoted to the religious life. My heart is filled with understanding and mercy towards everyone. The heart of each of my spouses must resemble mine. Mercy must flow from her heart; if it were not so, I would not recognize her as my bride ».

9. Without mercy there is sadness. - When I was at home to take care of my sick mother, I met a lot of people because everyone wanted to see me and stop and chat with me. I listened to everyone. They told me their sorrows. I realized that there is no happy heart if it does not love God and others with sincerity. So I was not surprised that so many of those people, although not bad, were sad!

10. Substitution for love. - Once, I accepted to suffer the terrifying temptation that one of our pupils was tormented by: the temptation to commit suicide. Suffering for a week. After those seven days, Jesus granted her his grace and, from that moment on, I too could stop suffering. It had been a terrifying torment. Since then, I often take upon myself the sufferings that afflict our students. Jesus allows me, and my confessors also allow me.