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needlework may be a “mere nothing” but it was “stamped with the seal of holy obedience” for
the conversion of a “large number of souls.” She asked Jesus to take her tiny gift and to
transform it into a “great thing,” since He Himself was engaged in saving souls for thirty years
using little things. The Lord was very pleased and spoke to her interiorly, “My daughter, I
comply with your request” (Diary, # 961).
II B.16 Suffering Gains the “Grace of Mercy” for Other Souls (Diary, # 1458-1459)
Sr. Faustina had been suffering greatly and bedridden for some time. One night, a priest
brought Holy Communion to Sr. Faustina in her cell. After receiving the Holy Eucharist, she
heard the Lord Jesus say to her, “If the priest had not brought Me to you, I would have come
Myself under the same species. My daughter, your sufferings of this night obtained the grace of
mercy for an immense number of souls” (Diary, # 1459).
II B.17 Suffering Aids in the Soul’s Grip of its Poverty and the Depth of God’s Mercy 162
(Diary, # 56): Sr. Faustina wrote in her Diary that at the start of her religious life, trials or
sufferings “frightened and disheartened” her. So she prayed continuously, as she was early on
aware of her weaknesses. She asked the Lord for His strength and the power of His Spirit, so that
she might fulfill His holy will in all things. Jesus opened the “eyes of her soul” on the kind of
person she really was, “an abyss of misery.” In her interior life, she looked with one eye at the
depth of her wretchedness; but with the other eye, at the depth of God’s mercy. She understood
that, “Whatever good there is in my soul consists solely of His holy grace” (Diary, # 56)
162
Ibid., Faustina, Diary, # 56, 133.
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