Well, I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to read a book along with raising 2 little ones over the past couple months. Actually, I read 3 books — the first, Faustina: Saint For Our Times took me over 2 months to absorb because of my little monkeys (despite the book itself being an easy, interesting read on one of my very favorite saints); the week of Christmas I had Grandma(s) — my mom and my grandma (so Josie and Mary’s Grandma and Great-Grandma) — to watch the little trouble-makers so I even got a chance to RE-READ the Faustina book plus 2 more. What a great chance to do some much needed spiritual reading. Sigh.
I fell in love with St Faustina back in high school when I stumbled on her gargantuan diary that said it was written by Sister M Faustina Something-Polish. Honestly I fell in love with Divine Mercy then but not so much the diary in its entirety; I didn’t exactly read the last couple hundred pages.
So, I highly recommend Faustina: Saint For Our Times if you like me are distracted easily (or just want an excellent compilation of the major themes of her diary). Also, importantly, the author gives an excellent overview of the life of Saint Faustina that puts much of the rest of the book in perspective, which I wish I had read firstly before attempting the diary back when I was in high school. That along with a great chapter on what Divine Mercy means for now (hence “Saint For Our Times” in the title) and what we can do to increase our trust in Jesus makes it incredibly practical — for example, set the divine mercy image as your screen-saver on your computer. I like that one don’t you? Also the book gives this handy acronym to help spread witness of God’s mercy:
A: Ask for His Mercy
B: Be Merciful
C: Completely trust in Jesus
With responses on how to show mercy and how to trust, things that I know I have trouble doing myself and most people I’m sure would find useful. The writer is obviously extremely knowledgeable and easily understood. I learned some interesting facts, gained great insight and perspective I didn’t have before.
Mostly I appreciate the back of the book — its a resource of Divine Mercy prayers that I find myself in love with. The prayer for suffering the author compiled is awesome. Part of the passage goes like this:
“Oh, if only the suffering soul knew how much God loves it, it would die of joy and excess of happiness! Some day, we will know the value of suffering, but then we will no longer be able to suffer. The present moment is ours (Diary, 693)”
with Faustina’s following prayer
“Jesus, do not leave me alone in suffering. You know Lord how weak I am. [...] So what will be so strange if you leave me alone and I fall. I am an infant, Lord, so I cannot get along by myself.”
After reading this, I have been using it to pray lately. Overall, sometimes dealing with the stress of life — worrying about my girls, struggling to really truly trust in Jesus — I need a reminder at how simple loving God can be. Should be. This book was a great reminder of his unfathomable Divine Mercy for me.
And if you didn’t know, this review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Faustina, Saint for Our Times . They are also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.
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