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Some of you might know the picture(s) painted after Faustyna�s vision of Jesus. See: ivine_Mercy2.jpg" target="_blank">1 and 2 The explanation of the rays: I read the diary of Faustyna, where unfortunately it isn�t explained in more detail than given above. I can�t seem to get the grip on the meaning, especially of the red ray. (But have the feeling it is of relevance for me to understand.) What is meant by: "The blood of Jesus is the life of souls"? Any insights/ideas/references? | |||
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Irene, blood is often used in scripture as a symbol of life. It was obvious that if people lost their blood, they lost their lives. There was also a strong emphasis on blood in cultures where sacrificial rituals were offered . . . that the blood lost was received by God as an offering from the people. So the idea of Christ's blood communicating the life of Christ and serving as the perfect sacrificial offering made more sense to the people of Jesus' time than it does to most people today. Hope this helps. | ||||
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Irene, I believe the picture of Jesus with the rays pouring forth from His heart, is the blood and water that gushed forth from His sacred heart after His death. It was poured forth for all of humanity in an absolute act of Divine Love. | ||||
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Phil, Freebird, thanks for your answers! Your explanations are helpful, especially the points of "blood=life" and "blood and water as sacrifice", but there is something more specific to it, I think, given the emphasis on "divine mercy". Maybe I should have given more details: Faustyna was a Polish nun in the first half of the 20th century. In her visions Jesus told her to have his picture painted with the line "Jesus I trust in You", and gave her a special version of the rosary ("rosary of mercy") to be prayed. The above explanation of the rays was given to her in a vision, too. Jesus told her that "everybody who turns to my mercy in trust will not be lost". In 2000 Faustyna was canonized, and the "Sunday of Divine Mercy" was set on the first sunday after easter. The white ray ("which justifies souls") in my understanding spares the soul the Last Judgement, replacing justice with mercy. I wonder if the red ray contains the meaning of the (mystic?) union with Jesus, so his blood becoming the soul�s "blood". ("It�s no longer me, but Christ living in me.") Additionally I am contemplating the meaning of all this for the picture of God in Christianity in general (or Catholicism, at least). I see the bow bent from the old testament with its emphasis on a punishing god, then the new testament that brings a more gentle picture of God and the salvation by Christ, and now the stressing of mercy goes even further: "If somebody beseeches me for my mercy, I CAN NOT punish him" You see, that�s not just a possibility, a chance, but a guarantee! A guarantee of mercy! I would see it as a big step forward, if this penetrated the church really deeply, relieving it from underlying fear, the fear of condemnation (that I personally have a hard time getting out of all the dark corners of my subconscious mind ). | ||||
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Irene, check out http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/index.htm which has some good info., including a discussion of the symbolism in the image (Freebird's reference to blood and water is what they also describe). We had a staff member at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita who was very much into the Divine Mercy devotions and Sr. Faustyna's life. It seemed to be very helpful to him. The message is simple, but prfound. | ||||
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Irene's quote: .........the fear of condemnation (that I personally have a hard time getting out of all the dark corners of my subconscious mind). ------------------------------------- Hi Irene, is it possible for you to share a bit about these feelings of the fear of condemnation?. ---------------------------- Faustina's vision of Christ with the radiant red and white rays streaming forth from His sacred heart could also mean the following. Christ is the "Word", all things where created in and through Him. His life is in the blood, and He shed His blood for us so that we may have eternal life and it is this life in the blood that gives life to all. We know that at death the blood that sustained the life of the body, lungs, organs, etc., remains in the body at death, yet the breath of God returns to our Creator. For me the white ray represents the living water that was within the blood, the waters of life. We know that water is part of the composition of blood together with other bodily fluids that sustain us in life. I see the white ray as these waters of life that are part of the breath of God. I have noticed a phenonema during the death of people. It is almost like an internal fire that absorbs these waters from within the blood merging with the final breath at death, returning to God, than the body becomes cold and the blood coagulates. My perception may be correct that the life in the blood is this life giving water merging with the breath, which is like vapor. Just an idea, which you can accept or reject. | ||||
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Thanks for the link and the answers. Unfortunately I have got some problems presently that make it hard to concentrate and properly understand what is written. So bear with me that I don�t answer now, I may do so as soon as I am okay again. CU | ||||
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Hi Irene and all, I don't know if you will find this relevant, but in his commentary on John 1:12, Ray Brown writes that in ancient Greek physiology the human embryo was thought to be made of the mother's blood and the father's seed. That adds another layer of meaning to the idea of �life-giving blood� from the human side of things. Of course, as children of God, we are not begotten of that kind of blood. The picture inspires me. Blissful energy wells up within. Fits well with the message of mercy. Thanks for sharing. | ||||
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Irene, am happy to know that you are okay again after experiencing some problems. The red and white rays streaming from the sacred heart of Jesus are also the signs of the tree of life (red) and the waters of life (white). This can be better understood when one studies carefully the words of an ancient prophet: "And an angel said to me knowest thou the meaning of the tree of life which thy father saw?. And the prophet answered the angel: "Yes it is the love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things, and the most joyous to the soul. And it came to pass that the prophet beheld that the iron rod, which my father had seen was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, together with the tree of life, which waters are a representation of the love of God. The fruit of the tree of life is the love of God within our hearts, when opened become the very fruit of that tree. "And we have known and believed the love God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him". | ||||
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From today's Spiritual Seed Newsletter that Phil sends out. Saint of the Week - http://www.americancatholic.or...s/saint.aspx?id=1931 St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938): October 5 At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. "I do not want to punish aching mankind," he once told St. Maria Faustina, "but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart" (Diary 1588). ... Because Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: "Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God" (Diary 1107). Good reminder that all graces and gifts from God, however spectacular, don't sanctify us. And we don't need to wait for special graces and gifts to do God's Will in everyday life. | ||||
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A very good quotation! And God really gave Faustina the grace of discernment between the essence of the union and the "ornaments". I think that in the case of Faustina it is best to use Bernard McGinn's distinction between a mystic and a visionary. Faustina had almost everyday visions, they were all "sensible" (the lowest level in St. Augustine's typology) visions - for example, she would see Christ or Virgin Mary, when she was at church, standing next to her, talking to her etc. But I think the visions of Faustina are not the best portion of her message. Many of them seem to be at least problematic. For example, Jesus in her visions says quite unpleasant things about Protestants or the Russian Orthodox - the things that Faustina might have heard from other people, but certainly not things that Jesus would say... In the standard editions of her diaries, after the II Council, they are removed by editors - I'm not sure if it is the right thing to do. Or Jesus repeatedly promised Faustina that she would found a community for women, a new order, but she never did that. I guess that the visions were strongly colored by her own personality, even though the love for God and the sense of union were, certainly, authentic in her. I guess, we cannot really distinguish between what comes from God and what comes from us in such cases. The Church is quite wise not to oblige us to believe in private revelations, since there purpose seems to be mostly personal. A similar thing with the conversion of Russia that has been foretold by Virgin Mary in Fatima. Some people would take the present growing number of the Orthodox in Russia as a sign of this prophecy coming true, but since the Orthodox Church in Russia is unfortunately deeply dependent on and often used by Putin's administration and is supporting Putin who acts against democracy, I'd be cautious about the true meaning of this phenomenon. I guess the prophecies tend to be unclear about specific time and that's the way they should be. | ||||
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Another topic: There was a recent discussion on the Kundalini-Forum here about what was Jesus doing/acting/thinking/experiencing in His last hours of His life, during His Passion. I was reading about this in two spiritual "firsthand" sources (visions): 1) in the diaries of Sr. Faustina (3rd diary, about in the middle of 1937. Btw, this book is a spiritual treasure book, one of the best ever written in spiritual history. Full of spiritual diamonds !!! ) and 2) in the books about Fra Elia (a monk, living in Italy, having the stigmata and suffering each year in the Holy Week the Passion of Jesus) The answer to this seemes to be, that despite His huge pain, he used His last hours still to collect souls onto His path. Outwardly (the one murder who was crucified together with Him), and a much bigger amount of souls inwardly. ("I m thirsty" is thus often interpreted as "I m thirsty for souls" ) And now the interesting part of this: Collecting these souls inwardly extended the normal time scale: He collected souls too, which still had to incarnate on earth in the future !!! One of these souls that Jesus collected in the last hours of His life was ..... surprise! .... Sr. Faustina !!!! (even though not yet on earth!) Sr Faustina wrote in her diary that Jesus told her in an inner voice, that while standing in front of the judgement of Pilatus, God Father has granted Him her soul for future help and service in His mission of Divine Mercy! And at another occasion Jesus asked her to meditate on his judgement of Pilatus. I seem vaguely begin to understand what is the meaning when Jesus asked her (Sr Faustina) to collect souls for the Mission of Divine Mercy ... Just food for some spiritual inspiration. | ||||
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I'm wondering what this means: "collecting souls"? Any light you can shed on this? I hope it's not some kind of predestination, which it sort of sounds like. Sr. Faustina's visions ought to be considered private revlations, and, as such, they have been found to be faithful to Church teaching (hence, her canonization). Still, we need not believe that everything she wrote about is literally true. The above example is one that is a very nice idea: that Jesus was literally thinking of the millions of people who would be saved by his crucifixion during his last hours. But it might not work that way, either. His faithfulness to God (whether he thought of us or not) throughout his passion would have certainly been sufficient to re-connect human nature to God in and through him in such manner as to open to all people of all times (including the past) the new level of participation in divinity that he himself experienced in the Spirit. Thus does he "save the race," including (potentially) all human individuals, who would nonetheless need to accept his gift through faith. | ||||
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Hi Phil, sounds like you are not that much convinced of the scriptures of Sr Faustina (?) . I am !!! I am 100 % !!! Sr Faustinas character was too humble, too sincere, her character and mind were too simple and she was too much in love with God/Jesus and she had no own will anymore. Thus it seems very unlikely that she dared to lie or write something in her diary that was contrary to what Jesus said to her, or not in the sence Jesus liked it. She tried to avoid even the smallest sin and wrote somewhere that she doesnt have any will of her own any more, her only will was to fullfill Gods will. Lying, cheating, manipulating the words of Jesus? Impossible for her. And Jesus told her to write everything down exactly:
For me the diary is much more than a "private revelation" , it is a mission for the whole world. (of coarse there are some private messages included too.) Private revelations are rather some sort of Near Death Experiences , and they might be considered to be valid more or less individually. Now, here are 2 sections of the diary. The first one (1164) is the one i talked about in the postig above: in the year 35 (about) He "managed" something that happened 1900+, and the second (1664) is one that violates the time causality : The love and compassion of Sr F to Jesus in the year 1930+ Jesus recognised in the Garden of Olives in the year 35 (about). http://www.divinemercystpauls....ic-html/page273.html
You wrote somewhere that you believe in a free will. I do not think that we have a completely free will and that our fate is completely undetermined. Rather a semi-Free will. And reading NDEs confirm me in this: A soul decides what kind of experiences it wants to make on earth and what it wants to accomplish here on earth, and what it wants to learn in this incarnation on earth. It chooses this either by itself or it gets this job from God, or mixed. Then the game on earth starts already for the soul to choose its own parents on earth, ... Almost all the souls in the NDEs get taught that their missions on earth are not yet complete, so that they have to return to earth. Sometimes they even get shown what will happen in their next section of their live. So i think that we have a limited free will only , but the principle things are predistined, although not fixed complety. By prayer we can ask for a change of fate, and then it depends on Gods Will, if this fits into His Plan. Also our "free will" has to merge with Gods will, on the long or short run, and it definitly does, consciously and unconsciously, the more the person has developed his soul. Till it finally gives up its own will, merge it in the will of God, like Sr Faustina. Then: No free will at all any more ! Also consider this: In the Beyond, in the souls world, there exists no time. Time exists only on earth! So when something is arranged to the souls in the Beyond , it of coarse can happen that, when "translated" to the earthly live, causality might be broken. Collecting souls: here are a few examples that show that Jesus asked Sr F to collect some souls for him, some of them He met already during his Passion. In the diary after the wish of Jesus there follows then a prayer "of collection (not written here in this posting, look in the diary) . http://www.divinemercystpauls....ic-html/page280.html
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A lovely post blissintheheart..... It is so true of many of us to not take St. Faustina's words at face value... even me, after having received the grace of witnessing Jesus of the Divine Mercy take the soul of one little boy back home ( to heaven) at the time of his transition in a small town in Idaho. A little boy who trusted Him.. that is how uncomplicated the Lords love is for all of us.. as He knows us by name , intimately , each and every one of us... not that i have forgotten that, of course i haven't. BUT it is so easy , after a few years down the road to move a 'tiny bit' away from the heart from this reality.. Right after seeing Jesus of the Divine Mercy i was granted extreme grace... my heart and mind were very simple( of course i was blissfully unaware of it at the time) oh what a time that was of exuberant childlike faith and joy..i lived in one miracle/ wonder after another...... amazing how subtle the mind is.. a stealer of joy and simplicity.. as i read your words this morning Bliss.... my spirit simply wants to rest in the Lord..as what you have written is 100% true.... i also agree with what you wrote about semi free will ... i know this within my heart.. the calling of God is etched within our hearts and ignited by grace there is a predestined quality to this.. like the soul knew before coming here, maybe even chose it our life plan yet we have free will in executing it. .. for me it is prayer.. simple intercessory .. prayer. I honestly know this is why i was blessed seeing Jesus of the Divine Mercy...to pray for others who have most need of His mercy.. that is all He asks of me to pray in union with Him to bring to Him the souls of those who do not know His love that they too may experience the joys of heaven eternally. and i might add here.. this whole thing about not having a self is.. erroneous.. i know this. This is not an opinion, i have seen it and experienced it as well .. there is a self and that self does not evaporate and go back into God as some non-self after death ... we are still a distinct self , just a transformed one. Bliss, what you wrote about about beyond and no time.. from a NDE i had as a young girl.. i have found this true.. i was even shown where i would live today ( here in Montana at the very place i am living today!).. i was shown this and many other things ' out of time'. My seeing and knowing was very different than how it is here in 3D..i saw in a broader perspective... these visions have given me courage to live my life the way i am called to live it.. and i have 100% faith in the hand of God directing my life.. directing ALL our lives *personally*. i think the biggest fallacy that is going on in more new age circles these days is...' we are a mind created illusion, thus having no need for a personal God.' that when we 'wake up' we see thru this illusion..... to be honest, i am to dumb to say how this enlightenment thing that so many are experiencing works .. people who speak of it like Bernadette Roberts and Ramana and some of the other great mystics who have shared their non dual experience i believe have something to say of interest ... but from my experience and from St Faustina's and others like her.. it is not our experience. Also i might add.. as i am very drawn to Our Lady Queen of Peace who appears to the seers in Medjugorje daily to them and has for years and many of us who feel Her Presence daily at the time She appears to them . It is also their experience too that there is a heaven , a hell and purgatory as the Blessed Mother took them there and they saw first hand such a place. She also told them Satan is real... which is another thing many people are running around today claiming as untruth..... so thanks blissintheheart for your lovely post here....as this morning , reading it, helped me move right back to center in the simplicity of His Truth via St. Faustina... and i will with even more commitment bring the souls He asks for.. to the fount of His mercy.. because this IS real.. even though my head will never, ever, ever wrap itself around the magnitude of His great grace.. | ||||
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Thanks for your posts, Bliss and Christine. Obviously, there is much to recommend from Sr. Faustina's life and writings, which is why the church canonized her. The Divine Mercy devotions, in particular, have been a great help to many. Saying that her writings constitute "private revelations" is not meant to minimize what she has written or shared. It's a way we distinguish this kind of material from the scriptures and doctrines of the Church. As such, the Church finds her writings to be orthodox and worthy, but does not require Catholics to study or practice them. Also, it's important to note that even though her writings are not in conflict with sound teaching, it doesn't follow that what she says is wasn't colored by her own imagination, culture, theology, etc. E.g., was it really necessary for Jesus to think of each one of us personally for our soul to be collected? That kind of affirmation (even though it came in a vision) seems to be more an outcome of her devotional practices; theology doesn't insist on this kind of dynamic, as I noted above. I never stated that free-will is absolute. Obviously, it's not. But I do believe that our salvation is contingent on our choosing to accept what Christ has made available to us (and that even such choosing is graced). The Church does condemn predestination, which I believe to be an evil teaching that has caused great anguish through the ages. She also condemns pre-existenianism, so you all might look that one up as well. Fate, too, isn't really a Christian belief. Material from NDEs is interesting and maybe should be another thread. It is, at best, on the same level as private revelation, however. None of which is meant to sour your enthusiasm for Sr. Faustina and her work. . . Blessings. | ||||
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Thanks for posting this, Bliss. Very beautiful. And I appreciate your sharing Christine. It's interesting that 'lukewarm' souls are so hurtful to God. | ||||
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