Misty grey flakes of melancholy ash
Fall in my dark gloomy sky as I
Somberly reflect on the approach of
The dreaded and deadly pestilence;
As I examine my life, I realize that
Truly I’ve crucified the Lord of Glory
Through my solitary selfishness and
Through my treacherous tongue;
But after my discipline in the desert,
The Light of the Divine Mercy
Will shine in dazzling brilliance
And quickly warm my cold heart.
A Tribute to St. John Paul II
The dark one whispers fear
Into my restless ear,
In his wicked black cauldron,
He tries to stir up trouble
To totally burst my bubble,
He seduces me with his
Black lies and accusations,
Again and again and again;
If I choose to listen to him,
Then my heart is paralyzed
By a lightning bolt of terror,
And, like Adam and Eve,
I rashly point my finger,
Blaming, complaining,
Sucked into the tempest
Of temptation and sin.
But if I follow the Divine Dove,
The Wind of the Spirit blows
Sweetly towards Our Lady of Love,
And there -- ah, yes! -- there,
I hand her my fears, unhesitatingly,
And she prayerfully brings them
To the Divine Jeweler who
Transfigures them into
Breathtakingly beautiful gemstones
That reflect His magnificent light,
And thus, fear is annihilated,
As Light scatters the darkness,
As Perfect Love drives out fear:
Jesus, I trust in You!
Act I
The Saint remains silent,
so that The Enemy will not
aggressively grab any
of his unguarded words
and twist them into traps
in order to cruelly cripple him.
Act II
The Invader sends forth
his insidious spies,
trying to pressure The Saint
with the phantom of fear
and treacherously trick him into
thoughtlessly rushing headlong
into the Stygian swamp of sin,
but with the joy of holy laughter
The Saint scatters the darkness of doom
with the luminous light of
the divine sense of humor.
Act III
The Dark One returns yet again,
but he changes his strategy
against his valiant opponent:
this time he brings a
sinister squadron of deadly
black-hearted soldiers
to wickedly wage war
against The Saint,
but crushed under the weight
of this wooden cross,
The Saint gives The Father
a total gift of himself and
freely surrenders all in a
prayer of total abandonment --
at that very instant
he notices that the cross
is now much easier to carry,
but he doesn’t know why.
Act IV
The Malicious One is terrified
when his foul bloodshot eyes see
The Lady, The Queen of All Hearts,
in dazzling and majestic beauty,
standing in stately elegance
very close to The Saint,
and with a smile on her lips
she whispers to The Saint
a heartfelt command
of loving compassion:
“Do whatever He tells you.”
Act V
The Evil One, infuriated,
is seething in hot hatred,
but he falls back into the Black Void
when Jesus, The Lord of Love,
appears next to The Saint saying,
“Come to Me, all you who are weary,
and I will refresh you” --
with this, The Saint’s devout soul
is soothed by The Divine Mercy,
and The Saint realizes that the more
he surrenders to The Savior,
the more He takes onto Himself
the weight of The Cross,
and thus, he is wondrously saved by
The Blood of the The Lamb.
I would always fight to win,
For me, it was a matter of pride,
So I stubbornly argued,
Twisting reason and then
Fracturing the truth,
Like a prisoner on the rack;
But now I’m slowly learning
To follow the way of the cross,
So when I’m confronted and
When I’m fiercely challenged,
In simplicity I speak the truth,
Then when my adversary
Insists and angrily persists,
I calmly turn the other cheek
And embrace the cross,
Experiencing the bitterness
Of ridicule and rejection,
The painful suffering of
Vindictive vehement insults
That bloodily slash and tear
At my heart and sensitive soul;
But the good God is so good,
Truly He is never outdone in
Generosity, for He pours the
Sweet balm of the Spirit
Into my wounds and rescues me
From the snares of the enemy,
I rest in His gentleness and patience,
I experience true joy in Him,
For His courage conquers all,
Driving away apparent obstacles,
And with a smile in my soul,
I approach the Sea of Mercy,
I approach it with great trust!
I arrogantly acted
as if I owned time,
but I did not,
so the Thief
tempted me
and taunted me,
with interruptions,
and I got exasperated,
so I madly chased him,
like a wild-eyed maniac,
but he just laughed at me,
as if I were a ridiculous fool,
a stupid ridiculous fool.
But when the Light
Showed me The Way,
I surrendered back to Him
His generous gift of time:
Tuus totus ego sum,
I am all yours,
And all the time I have is yours,
O Lord, through Our Lady,
The Queen of All Hearts —
I breathe in His peace,
Oh, so deeply,
And then exhale my impatience,
As I worship
The King of Time,
The King of Divine Mercy.
Dedicated to my Faithful Mother
You used to provide
For all my needs,
Planting in my soul
God’s holy seeds.
Now older, you need
God’s help from above,
Like you, I now sacrifice
And surrender in love.
In the style of St. Francis of Assisi
What is success?
It is not having worldly popularity and fame,
It is not being envied by those around us,
It is not powerfully dominating our competitors,
It is not traveling the world in leisure,
It is not amassing luxurious possessions,
It is not dining sumptuously in elegant restaurants,
It is not reveling in carousing and lustful desires.
Success is prayer, cascading in thanksgiving,
Success is life, overflowing with love and joy,
Success is peaceful trust, in Divine Mercy.
The evil one pressured me,
Viciously trying to sack me
For an eternal loss,
And as a young quarterback,
In fear I rashly forced my passes,
Resulting in many interceptions;
But my Coach guided me,
Gently and encouragingly,
And He taught me well,
Advising me to play it cool,
To try and be more flexible,
Especially under pressure;
And so, I gradually matured,
And when Temptation and Fear
Pursued and tried to tackle me,
I calmly and courageously
Took evasive action,
I left my comfort zone —
The comfort of the pocket —
And I became a scrambler,
A fearless, patient scrambler,
Who trusted the offensive line
Of Divine Providence,
And this created opportunities,
Many little opportunities to love,
And so with great persistence,
And with great patience,
And with long consistent drives,
Through the wondrous grace of God,
This resulted in touchdowns,
And the ultimate victory,
In the Super Bowl of Life.
Abba, Father of Divine Mercy,
I surrender to you!
Jesus, King of Divine Mercy,
I trust in you!
Holy Spirit, Dove of Divine Mercy,
I love you!
O Madonnina d’Amore,
The Mystical Rose,
Pray for us!
St. Joseph,
The Knight of the Holy Family,
Pray for us!
St. John Paul II,
Pray for us!
St. Francis de Sales,
Pray for us!
St. Faustina,
Pray for us!
St. Louis de Montfort,
Pray for us!
St. Josemaría Escrivá,
Pray for us!
St. Peter the Apostle,
Pray for us!
St. Paul the Apostle,
Pray for us!
St. Francis of Assisi,
Pray for us!
St. Clare of Assisi,
Pray for us!
St. Anthony of Padua,
Pray for us!
St. Padre Pio,
Pray for us!
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen,
Pray for us!
Come, Holy Spirit,
Fill the hearts of your faithful,
And enkindle in us,
The fire of your love!
Amen.
Dearest Jesus,
I trust in your wholehearted love for me,
I trust in your unfathomable divine mercy,
I humbly accept your special gift to me today:
The great grace of Divine Mercy Sunday,
Forgiveness of all sin and punishment!
Jesus, I love You!
Jesus, I trust in You!
Inspired by the diary of St. Faustina
“Fix your gaze upon
The Passion
Of my Son,
And in this way,
You will be victorious.”
“But why, Sweet Mother?
How is that going to help me?”
“Yes, it will help you,
My little one,
Because in this way
You will realize
How much He suffered for you,
Because He loves you;
Sometimes you are
More attached to other things
Than you are to Him,
Sometimes you have
More affection for other people
Than you have for Him;
This will help you
To surrender
Your sinful habits
To Him,
Allowing them to be
Nailed to the cross,
Then Jesus will set you free.”
When things go my way,
Exactly according to schedule,
I live in heavenly peace,
Enjoying the Son Light,
Giving God the first fruits,
Spending quality time with Him
And Our Lady, in holy prayer,
But the God of surprises is approaching.
When things don’t go my way,
And my schedule crumbles,
I calmly wait for Divine Mercy
In the midst of the dark night,
Carrying my cross in surrender,
Giving Him the gift of my time,
Resting in the arms of Our Lady,
For patience is the companion of wisdom.
St. John of the Cross,
And many other saints,
Knew the dark night,
The dark night of the soul,
The spiritual dryness
And desolation,
Not feeling God’s presence,
For long periods of time,
And yet they were patient,
They were persistent,
In reading The Word,
In receiving The Word,
In living The Word.
Most of us
Never experience this
Kind of dark night,
But at times we eat of
The dry crust of the cross,
And live days, or hours,
Or even passing moments,
In the dark night of the cross,
But then, very silently,
Very unexpectedly,
In the twinkling of an eye,
The Son rises in our hearts,
And we can experience the Light:
Divine Mercy in the dark night.
A tribute to St. John Paul II
The dark one whispers fear
Into my restless ear,
In his wicked black cauldron,
He tries to stir up trouble
To totally burst my bubble,
He seduces me with his
Black lies and accusations,
Again and again and again;
If I choose to listen to him,
Then my heart is paralyzed
By a lightning bolt of terror,
And, like Adam, I begin to
Rashly point my finger,
Blaming, complaining,
Sucked into the tempest
Of temptation and sin.
But if I follow the Divine Dove,
The Wind of the Spirit blows
Sweetly towards Our Lady of Love,
And there -- ah, yes! -- there,
I hand her my fears, unhesitatingly,
And she prayerfully brings them
To the Divine Jeweler who molds
Them in the Divine Furnace
Of the Most Holy Trinity,
and He transfigures them
Into breathtakingly beautiful
Sparkling diamonds,
Reflecting His magnificent light,
And thus, fear is annihilated,
As Light scatters the darkness,
As Perfect Love drives out fear:
Jesus, I trust in You!
Act I
The Saint remains silent,
so that The Enemy will not
aggressively grab any
of his unguarded words
and twist them into traps
in order to cruelly cripple him.
Act II
The Invader sends forth
his insidious spies,
trying to pressure The Saint
with the phantom of fear
and treacherously trick him into
thoughtlessly rushing headlong
into the Stygian swamp of sin,
but with the joy of holy laughter
The Saint scatters the darkness of doom
with the luminous light of
the divine sense of humor.
Act III
The Dark One returns yet again,
but he changes his strategy
against his valiant opponent:
this time he brings a
sinister squadron of deadly
black-hearted soldiers
to wickedly wage war
against The Saint,
but crushed under the weight
of this wooden cross,
The Saint gives The Father
a total gift of himself and
freely surrenders all in a
prayer of total abandonment --
at that very instant
he notices that the cross
is now much easier to carry,
but he doesn’t know why.
Act IV
The Malicious One is terrified
when his foul bloodshot eyes see
The Lady, The Queen of All Hearts,
in dazzling and majestic beauty,
standing in stately elegance
very close to The Saint,
and with a smile on her lips
she whispers to The Saint
a heartfelt command
of loving compassion:
“Do whatever He tells you.”
Act V
The Evil One, infuriated,
is seething in hot hatred,
but he falls back into the Black Void
when Jesus, The Lord of Love,
appears next to The Saint saying,
“Come to Me, all you who are weary,
and I will refresh you” --
with this, The Saint’s devout soul
is soothed by The Divine Mercy,
and The Saint realizes that the more
he surrenders to The Savior,
the more He takes onto Himself
the weight of The Cross,
and thus, he is wondrously saved by
The Blood of the The Lamb.
I would always fight to win,
For me, it was a matter of pride,
So I stubbornly argued,
Twisting reason and then
Fracturing the truth,
Like a prisoner on the rack;
But now I’m slowly learning
To follow the way of the cross,
So when I’m confronted and
When I’m fiercely challenged,
In simplicity I speak the truth,
Then when my adversary
Insists and angrily persists,
I calmly turn the other cheek
And embrace the cross,
Experiencing the bitterness
Of ridicule and rejection,
The painful suffering of
Vindictive vehement insults
That bloodily slash and tear
At my heart and sensitive soul;
But the good God is so good,
Truly He is never outdone in
Generosity, for He pours the
Sweet balm of the Spirit
Into my wounds and rescues me
From the snares of the enemy,
I rest in His gentleness and patience,
I experience true joy in Him,
For His courage conquers all,
Driving away apparent obstacles,
And with a smile in my soul,
I approach the Sea of Mercy,
I approach it with great trust!
O Mystical Rose,
Be with me; stay with me;
Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you!
O Divine Mercy,
Be with me; stay with me;
Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you!
Amen.
A Divine Mercy Prayer inspired by St. Francis of Assisi
True joy
Is Divine Mercy
In the dark night
Of the cross.
Jesus, I wait for You!
Jesus, I watch for You!
Jesus, I trust in You!
Amen.
The Babe of Divine Mercy
Is born of the Sweet Virgin,
And as He lay in the manger,
The Light, a very bright Light,
Shines most powerfully,
Kindling the fire of love
In the hearts of the magi,
In the souls of the shepherds,
In every nation of the world,
Throughout all generations,
Stirring into a strong flame
The embers of eternity.
A cross of darkness
Suddenly pulls me down,
And I collapse to my knees,
Crushed under its weight;
How long will it last?
Why can I not see The Light?
Where is the Great Dove?
He is here – I know it;
I struggle to find Him,
But I trust in Him,
Yet these words seem empty
When I am throttled by the
Frigid fingers of Fear;
So I slow down, I slow down,
And breathe in The Spirit,
Who refreshes my soul,
Then, little by little, the words
Start to sink in, they make
Sense, and behold I find that
I trust, I really do trust in Him;
And, steadied by this newfound
Faith, I embrace the cross,
Knowing that as I finally enter
The Magnificent Sea of Mercy,
The cross will melt and dissolve,
In the blood of The Lamb,
And I will rest in the arms of
The Lord of Divine Mercy.