I stagger and stumble
and struggle through life,
my brain twisted into knots
by perplexing problems,
by a delirium of doubts,
by a flurry of fickle fears;
so Our Lady of Love
takes me by the hand
and gently leads me to
The Divine Mercy,
where He is enthroned in His
regal monstrance of gold,
and I pour out my heart
before His Holy Majesty;
from His Most Precious Body
two beams of bright light,
both red and white,
burn through the darkness,
illuminating my mind,
and the Truth has set me free.
When I wave the white flag
in the serene surrender of prayer,
I allow the water of my soul
to be poured freely into
His chalice of gold;
there I am baptized by Love
and born again,
transformed by the Transfigured,
changed forever by the sweet
new wine of the Spirit.
As the Sacred Heart
Beats with thrills of joy,
The new wine of Divine Love
Sweetly surges through the
Thirsty Body of Christ,
Bringing the refreshment
Of the Holy Spirit,
And the gentle mercy
Of our Heavenly Father;
With compassion, Jesus says,
“Let every beat of my heart today
Be an act of love for you.”
Our Father’s eyes are upon us,
And we are gently caressed
By His compassionate gaze;
He speaks with a voice sublime,
Words of hope and encouragement,
Urging us to remain in Divine Mercy;
He knows everything about us,
The good, the bad, the unknown,
And yet, remarkably, He still loves us;
Then, we humbly approach Him,
Like the repentant prodigal son,
Wearing the tattered rags of sin:
He joyfully embraces and kisses us,
And, to our amazement, we are
Forgiven, and we are born again.
You, the holy fire
That purifies my soul,
The Holy Dove of
Divine Mercy,
Spiral downwards
And inflame my
Innermost being,
Burning away
All affection for sin,
Freeing the wings
Of my heart so that
I can spiral upwards
With you to Heaven,
And find union with
Divine Love.
I turn around and before me you stand,
one whose robe is dazzlingly white,
On your head is a glistening gold crown,
set with gemstones radiant and bright;
With great love, you bestow your peace upon me,
through your wonderfully warm brown eyes,
Your merciful smile cheers my heart,
so that my soul can most sweetly arise;
In the joyful breeze of the Holy Spirit,
your flowing hair so very gently swirls,
In my heart I totally surrender to you,
and for you this is a treasure of pearls.
I turn around and before me you stand,
one whose robe is dazzlingly white,
On your head is a glistening gold crown,
set with gemstones radiant and bright;
With great love, you bestow your peace upon me,
through your wonderfully warm brown eyes,
Your merciful smile cheers my heart,
so that my soul can most sweetly arise;
In the joyful breeze of the Holy Spirit,
your flowing hair so very gently swirls,
In my heart I totally surrender to you,
and for you this is a treasure of pearls.
Hi, everyone!
Gloria in excelsis Deo! It's time to celebrate the magnificent Feast of Mercy!
Again, just to refresh our memories, here are the three things we need to do in order to receive "The Extraordinary Promise":
Go to Confession (before Divine Mercy Sunday, preferably as close to that day as possible)
Receive Holy Communion (on Divine Mercy Sunday or on the vigil)
Do our best to live and remain in a state of grace
St. Faustina records in her diary these magnificently beautiful words of Jesus: "On that great day [Divine Mercy Sunday]... the soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (section 699).
Indeed, what a wonderful blessing!
In addition, Fr. Chris Alar also recommends that today we sincerely recite this simple yet powerful prayer:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/poem-of-the-day/2024/4/2/prayer-for-divine-mercy-sunday
Now, in a worst-case scenario, if something prevented you from accomplishing the items listed above, don't worry! (The evil one loves when we worry.) Remember, Our Lord Jesus is not just the King of Kings and the King of the Universe. He is also the King of Divine Mercy -- and he is never, ever, outdone in generosity. Truly, His goodness and mercy toward us are unfathomable! What an immense gift from God, to be able to celebrate this beautiful feast day every year on the Sunday after Easter.
If you would like to honor this special day by praying the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (which is especially appropriate at the three o'clock hour, the "Hour of Mercy"), you can also find it on my website. It's a splendid way to celebrate the Hour of Mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday. Just click on the following link and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
Lastly, if you would like to learn more details about the amazing history of Divine Mercy, please click on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpwxWIPt__g
God bless you all, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
Our "Mission of Divine Mercy" is almost complete! For the last nine days -- including today -- we have been praying the magnificent Divine Mercy Novena, which will culminate tomorrow on Divine Mercy Sunday, the great Feast of Mercy.
By the way, I hope the sacred art has been as inspiring for you as it has been for me. For those of you who have been viewing the paintings on your smartphone, I would encourage you to treat yourself by viewing the sacred art on your computer. The paintings can come much more alive this way, and you may find that your meditation is even more profound.
So, as we approach the finish line, let's picture a splendid heavenly stadium where we see Our Lord and Our Lady, smiling because they see how much we want to do God's will. The stadium is filled with all the saints and angels, who are happily cheering us on. Tomorrow we will experience Jesus' indescribable love for us on Divine Mercy Sunday! Yes, we're almost there -- I can almost taste it!
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 9" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
We're almost there! Two more days until we experience Jesus' indescribable compassion on Divine Mercy Sunday!
Hopefully, you have already gone to confession this week, or have it marked on your calendar for either today or tomorrow. I just don't want anyone to miss out on magnificently beautiful blessings on Divine Mercy Sunday. They are simply too wonderful.
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 8" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
For the many of you who are caught up with the prayers for this week's novena, all I can say is this: Well done! Well done indeed!
For any of you who are not quite caught up with your novena prayers, hang in there! I know that after I celebrate a special occasion like Easter, sometimes it can feel like there are just so many things that need to get done. So I completely understand if any of are you experiencing that, too.
But there is still time for us to catch up with the Divine Mercy Novena! You can do it! I know you can! Our Lord and Our Lady are cheering us on! The finish line is now in our view, so it's time for us to finish strong and be those gold-medal spiritual athletes that St. Paul talked about when he said, "Run so as to win" (1 Corinthians 9:24).
Today the sacred art will transition from the carrying of the cross to a few different perspectives of the crucifixion, and then it will close with the joy of the resurrection.
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 7" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
How time flies with a good novena -- we're already over halfway to our goal!
So in case you haven't already done so, I just want to give you another friendly reminder that if you have not yet gone to confession, now is a good time to plan it, and the same is true for planning your mass on Divine Mercy Sunday.
Tomorrow the sacred art will change one more time and we will see art that reflects the conclusion of the Passion -- the crucifixion -- but then looks forward to the Resurrection!
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 6" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
Just in case you have been too busy to watch the video by Fr. Chris Alar, let me give you an ultra-quick synopsis. This coming Sunday, you will have the opportunity to obtain a special and wonderful gift from Our Lord. It is called "The Extraordinary Promise."
In her spiritual classic entitled Divine Mercy in my Soul, St. Faustina stated the following: "On that great day [Divine Mercy Sunday]... the soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (section 699). This is a gift so indescribably beautiful that words simply cannot express the immense magnitude of Jesus' love for each and every one of us. He wants all of us to remain in His love forever!
So we need to do three things in order to receive this great grace:
Go to Confession (before Divine Mercy Sunday, preferably as close to that day as possible)
Receive Holy Communion (on Divine Mercy Sunday or on the vigil)
Do our best to live and remain in a state of grace
Okay, then.
So in order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 5" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Prayer Shared on EWTN by Fr. Chris Alar, MIC
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God,
Have mercy on me,
A poor sinner.
Jesus, you promised St. Faustina
That the soul that has been to confession (I have),
And the soul that receives Holy Communion (I just did),
Will receive complete forgiveness
Of all sin and punishment.
Please give me this grace.
Amen.
Inspired by St. Francis de Sales
I recognize my unworthiness,
And I humbly ask pardon
For my sins.
O Divine Artist,
I humbly kneel
Before you in spirit,
In awe before you!
O Lord of Love,
I long for holy union with you,
O Lord of Love,
I long for holy union with you,
O Lord of Love,
I long for holy union with you;
Thank you for the gift
Of your love.
Amen.
Hi, everyone!
Today you will notice that the narrative of the Passion will continue and the sacred art will shift its focus to the next part of the story. So for the next three days we will meditate upon a different set of artistic masterpieces.
We can do it! St. Faustina and the communion of saints are cheering us on! Our Lord and Our Lady of Divine Mercy are cheering us on! They love us so deeply, and so very dearly, more than we can possibly imagine.
Also, I hope you had the chance to watch Fr. Chris Alar’s video on the treasure of Divine Mercy Sunday. If you're not already familiar with the details of this great Feast of Mercy, it's an absolute must-watch. It can help us to be fully prepared to receive the wondrous blessings of this special day.
I have once again included the following link to the video, for your convenience:
In order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 4" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hi, everyone!
Happy Easter! He is risen! Alleluia!
I hope and pray that you and your loved ones will have a joyous celebration today of Our Lord's resurrection.
Today we will talk about the magnificent treasure of Divine Mercy Sunday, which is one week from today. The immense blessings of that day are indescribably beautiful. Now a number of you are probably familiar with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC. But for those of you who don't yet know him, he is a great proponent of the Divine Mercy devotion, and also has a very deep love for Our Lady.
He has such wonderful enthusiasm, and he speaks about "The Divine Mercy Sunday" far more eloquently than I ever could. Therefore, I'm going to share the following link with you so that you can hear him tell you about it himself:
It's relatively short, I believe about 10 minutes in length or so. Please try to watch it sometime today on Easter Sunday. Hopefully, it will give you something to rejoice about in a special way for the next week.
Also, I recommend that you plan which mass you will attend to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday next week.
Now for one more day, our sacred art will focus on the first part of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, so it will be the same sacred art as yesterday, in order that we can enter more deeply into Our Lord's Passion. Then, tomorrow we will move forward artistically to the next phase of The Passion.
In order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down, and if you haven't already done so, please read "How to Pray with the Booklet," "How to Pray without the Booklet," and "The Benefit of Praying with Sacred Art"
3. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 3" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hello, everyone,
By God's grace, hopefully all went well in your first day of praying the novena. However, as many of you have probably experienced at different times in your life, the evil one oftentimes tries to wreak havoc in our lives and get us busy so that we won't have time to pray. I think it's probably one of his oldest tricks. He knows -- far better than we do -- how powerful this novena really is, and he despises it.
So, in a worst-case scenario, if you weren't able to pray the novena yesterday, then just try to double up today to catch up. And then make a valiant effort, as a knight of Christ, to keep on track for the remainder of the novena. If you're able to do so, I'm sure that God will richly bless you.
Also, in order to most fully benefit from the novena, I highly recommend that you try to go to confession between now and Divine Mercy Sunday, which falls on April 7. Time can fly by very, very quickly in a novena, so I want to give you a timely reminder while there's still an opportunity to do so. If possible, I recommend that you go as close to Divine Mercy Sunday as you can.
I say this because you will have the opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday, and perhaps even something more beautiful than that. But tomorrow I'll share with you some wonderful information about the magnificent treasure of Divine Mercy Sunday.
Once again, for the first three days of the novena, the sacred art will focus on the first part of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, so it will be the same sacred art as yesterday, in order that we can enter more deeply into Our Lord's Passion.
In order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down, and if you haven't already done so, please read "How to Pray with the Booklet," "How to Pray without the Booklet," and "The Benefit of Praying with Sacred Art"
3. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 2" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Hello, everyone,
We're finally here. Now it's time to pray the beautiful and powerful Divine Mercy Novena.
For these first three days, the sacred art will focus on the first part of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
In order to find the prayers, as well as the links to magnificent sacred art, please do the following items:
1. Click the following link:
http://www.josephpeteranthony.com/divine-mercy-novena
2. Scroll down a little bit and please read the instructions entitled "How to Pray with the Booklet," "How to Pray without the Booklet," and "The Benefit of Praying with Sacred Art"
3. Scroll down a little further and click the link entitled "Divine Mercy Novena: Day 1" (this will take you to the prayers and the sacred art)
If you have any questions, then please let me know. I'm always happy to help if I can.
God bless you, and may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts!
Joe
Inspired by the writing of this great saint
You stand atop a holy bridge,
A bridge that has several levels,
Like the historic Ponte Vecchio,
And the waves of the worldly waters
Are swarming with sea demons who
Obsessively seek souls to rip open
With their blade-like bloody teeth,
And their cold cadaverous claws,
To torture them in The Endless Death;
But some souls, through God’s grace,
Cling to the edge of the first level
Of the bridge, dripping wet and
Shivering, terrified of going to hell,
So they clutch tightly to the bridge,
Fearing that they will fall back into
The turbulent black river of doom;
Other souls, through God’s strength,
Climb up higher to the second level
Where they are safe from the evil
Threat below, in a place of serene
Consolation, where happiness can
Finally reign in their grateful hearts;
However, there are still others who
Through their passionate prayers
And through total surrender
To Jesus’ most Holy Cross,
Climb to the top of the bridge,
And there -- yes, there! -- they are
Pierced by the overwhelming beauty
Of the magnificent heavenly realm,
Where Jesus’ peace surrounds them,
Where Jesus’ joy enthralls them,
Where Jesus’ love embraces them.