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(13.5) “The Price at which Souls are Bought: Suffering on the Cross” 199
(Diary, # 324): Sr. Faustina wrote in her Diary that one day, she felt very weak. After Holy
Communion, the Lord Jesus appeared to her as she saw Him previously during Adoration. His
gaze pierced her soul completely and He let her know “the least speck of dust” in her soul. Her
prolonged, great suffering was such that she asked the Lord, “Jesus, I thought You were going to
take me.” He replied determinedly but compassionately:
My will has not yet been fully accomplished in you; you will still remain on earth,
but not for long. I am well pleased with your trust, but your love should be more
ardent. Pure love gives the soul strength at the very moment of dying. When I was
dying on the Cross, I was not thinking about Myself, but about poor sinners, and I
prayed for them to My Father. I want your last moments to be completely similar
to Mine on the Cross. There is but one price at which souls are bought, and that is
suffering united to My suffering on the Cross. Pure love understands these words;
carnal love will never understand them” (Diary, # 324).
(13.6) “Give Me Power to Suffer; Give to My Heart a Pure Love” for this Soul 200
(Diary, # 1633): Sr. Faustina shared various experiences of “continuous physical
suffering…on the Cross with Jesus.” At some point, the Mother Superior chastised her for “lack
of love of neighbor” for allegedly eating something, which led to a painful bout of intestinal
distress that disturbed the Sisters’ rest at night. Sr. Faustina and her doctor knew that these pains
were not from food but maybe from her body or God’s visitation. But, since then, she suffered in
secret and avoided seeking the Sisters’ help.
(Diary, # 1633, 696): Sr. Faustina was afflicted with recurrent, severe, painful, and
disabling bodily spells, hidden from others except Jesus. At times, she threw up the medications
to treat her symptoms. At other times, the pain kept her from moving, which intensified with the
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200
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, # 324.
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, # 1633-1634, 696.
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