SPIRITUAL DIRECTION with the saints

Discover in a new way the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, through Divine Mercy and Love

Well, then.

Many of you have faithfully prayed the Divine Mercy Novena and have experienced the sweet fruit of the Spirit in the glory of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Others of you have climbed the challenging yet tremendously rewarding spiritual mountain of praying the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, according to St. Louis de Montfort.

Still others of you have done both of these beautiful things. Or, possibly, you’re new to this website and have not been blessed by either one, at least not yet.

But whether we have prayed one or both of these devotions, or even if we have prayed neither, we must inevitably ask ourselves, "So what's next?"

Obviously, these are not devotions that are "one-and-done." Both the Divine Mercy Novena and the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary must be lived. So how do we do this?

It’s actually easier than we might think. I have three recommendations for you, and I suggest that you bring them before Our Blessed Lord, either before or after Holy Mass, or during Eucharistic Adoration, and ask Him which of these He may want for you.

For me, there's just nothing like making decisions in the physical presence of Jesus. This is something that I learned from Pope St. John Paul II. When he did his writing (and he did a prodigious amount of it), he actually did so in the presence of Our Eucharistic Lord. If you can, I would encourage you to try making your important decisions in His holy presence. Try it, and see what happens.  

Ultimately, however, please don't just do these three things because I recommend them. Instead, follow the wise words of Our Lady who says to us, "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5). So if Our Lord wants you to do all of these three things, then please do them. But if He only wants you to do one or two of them, or maybe even none of them, then simply do what He wishes. I'm convinced that this is the path that leads us to God: surrender. This is what may help us to discover in a new way the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. 

So here are my recommendations, to keep the Spirit of Divine Mercy and Love alive in our hearts, even if only in a simple way:

1. Buy a copy of St. Faustina's diary entitled Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul 

Then, simply read one paragraph per day, and when you get to the end of the book, start it all over again! Although it's very little reading each day, it can be very powerful. It can help to heal our broken hearts, and soften our hardened hearts. It can remind us not only to seek God's divine mercy for ourselves, but also to live divine mercy with others. When I do this in my own prayer life, I look for one little lesson per day. And the beauty of it is that it takes so little time. Without a doubt, St. Faustina will faithfully continue to lead us closer to Jesus. 

2. Pray St. Louis de Montfort's Daily Consecration Prayer

This is a really, really short prayer, and I encourage you to read it every single day — even if you’ve never prayed the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. I like to pray it right after I wake up, and then again after receiving Holy Communion. Especially for those of us with tremendously busy schedules, this too takes so little time. Yet it's a daily reminder to go to Our Lady. For she too, without a doubt, will lovingly continue to lead us closer to Jesus. You will find the prayer if you click on the “Poetic Prayers” link on the main page of this website. You will find it in the first section, “Prayers by the Saints.”

3. Buy St. Francis de Sales' spiritual classic entitled Introduction to the Devout Life (if possible, try to get the one translated by John K. Ryan)

Once again, I recommend that you typically read no more than one chapter per day, and if you cannot finish a chapter, then aim for between one and two pages per day -- and then when you get to the end, start this book all over again, too! The time goes by very quickly, and yet it's filled with very practical spiritual wisdom. If you don't currently have a spiritual director (and most people don’t), then this book is the next best thing. He covers every imaginable topic and writes in a very pleasant style. 

In fact, if you would like to have some company during your daily reading, then you are welcome to join me for comprehensive spiritual direction with St. Francis de Sales. August 21 is his birthday, and after making a memorable pilgrimage to Annecy, France (where he lived) and nearby Thorens-Glière (where he was born), I decided to make this the official start date. All we need is his book — again, please get the one translated by John K. Ryan, because it reads as smoothly as a novel by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. So although you and I (and very possibly others) will be reading individually, there will be a sense of community among us, knowing that we are not alone in our journey.

But let me explain this book in just a bit more detail. It is broken down into five sections, and in the first section he actually does a preparation for consecration that is followed by a consecration prayer, not unlike the one according to St. Louis de Montfort. However, St. Francis approaches things from a rather unique perspective, one that perfectly complements the consecration according to Fr. de Montfort. 

But what is magnificent about St. Francis' book is that it doesn't conclude with the consecration; instead, it essentially begins with it. Then, from sections two through five, he explains how to live it -- a devout life, a holy life -- as a lay person. Like other classics, this work is universal in nature, so although it was written approximately 400 years ago, the same life lessons still apply to us, even in the twenty-first century. 

But you might ask, "Why is it so important to do one or more of these three things?" Well, it's important because as soon as we stop paddling our spiritual boat upstream towards Heaven, our boat will have a tendency to get caught in the strong current of the world and begin to drift back downwards, in the opposite direction. This can happen so subtly, so imperceptibly. As St. Peter himself points out, our opponent the devil "... is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Let's remember that Consecration Day is our commencement -- our beginning -- not our end. 

But you may have yet another question: "Why do I need to keep rereading these books over and over again? Wouldn’t that get boring?" These too are excellent questions. The reason is this: as human beings, we oftentimes need repetition. For example, I have read St. Francis' de Sales' book every year since 2007, and yet every single time that I have reread it, I pause at different times and think to myself, This is so true! I totally forgot about that! Like good navigators, occasionally we may find that we need to make course corrections to our spiritual lives, so that we don't get off track. 

Also, think of the Sunday mass readings. It's the same thing. We repeat the three-year cycle over and over throughout our lives. Why? Because the reminders can prevent us from gradually getting spiritually lost. Even St. John Paul II, when he wrote and organized his famous Theology of the Body, didn't write in a linear fashion, from “Point A" to "Point B." Instead, he organized it in the structure of a spiral: he talks about something, then he spirals around and returns to it again, then he spirals around and returns yet again, each time enriching our understanding of the material more and more. 

While we are in this world, we often live in the Dark Night of the Cross and the Dark Night of Unknowing. But, without a doubt, good St. Francis de Sales, along with Our Lady and St. Faustina, will wisely and prudently lead us closer to Jesus. They will gently lead us by the hand, so that we can continue to experience Divine Mercy in our lives. 

I love you all dearly as my brothers and sisters in Christ. May Our Lord help you all to discover the wonderful mission that He has in His plans for you! Truly, we all have a mission from Him. Now I don't know if it's a small mission or a big mission, but what I do know is this: it's something absolutely and wonderfully fulfilling. It's something that will make you happy, and it's something that will make others happy. If you've already discovered your mission, may He bless it superabundantly and help you to find even greater fulfillment and happiness, as He surges through you, and makes the world a better place. Please always remember the words of St. Catherine of Siena. She once very famously said, "Be who you were born to be, and you will set the world on fire."  

God bless you all. May Our Lady, the Queen of All Hearts, sweetly shower God's graces upon you. And may the magnificent and dazzling light of Divine Mercy always shine brightly in your hearts! And as St. Francis de Sales would say, “Vive, Jésus!”