St. Francis
St. Clare and St. Francis
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Francis’ Prayer for Divine Mercy
- Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
- Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
- where there is injury pardon;
- where there is doubt, faith;
- where there is despair, hope;
- where there is darkness, light;
- and where there is sadness, joy.
- Divine Master,
- Grant that I may not so much seek
- to be consoled as to console
- to be understood as to understand,
- to be loved as to love.
- for it is in giving that we receive,
- in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The Power of the
Divine Mercy Image
Almighty and Eternal Father, in your goodness, bless and sanctify this Image of The Divine Mercy, Your dearly beloved Son, which has been fashioned to reveal to us the great love of our Crucified and Risen Savior, The Divine Mercy Personified. Help us recall to our minds the streams of Blood and Water that had gushed forth from His pierced Heart to be for us a continuous fount of mercy.
Grant to all who invoke Your Mercy with this Image before Help us recall to our minds the streams of Blood and Water that had gushed forth from His pierced Heart to be for us a continuous fount of mercy. Grant to all who invoke Your Mercy with this Image before their eyes, the grace of true repentance, pardon and peace. Shield them from every danger to soul and body in this life.
Jesus, our loving Savior, establish in this Image the Throne of Your Mercy. Pour out upon all of us, who approach it with faith and trust, the purifying, healing and sanctifying rays of grace ever emanating from it as a blazing star. Gaze upon us as you did from the Cross with your great love and mercy so that we may be filled with your grace.
Through this Image, may Your Divine Mercy triumph over all the powers of evil. May all who venerate this Image never perish. May it be their joy in life, their hope in death, and their glory in eternity forever and ever.
This we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen!
Significance of the Image
Christ comes to us as the risen Jesus of Divine Mercy dispelling the world of darkness.
“The rays represent the Blood and Water which gushed forth from the depths of my Mercy when My agonizing Heart was pierced on the cross.”
“The Pale rays symbolize the water, which cleanses and purifies the soul: the red rays represent the blood, which gives new life to the soul. These rays will shield the soul before the justice of My Father. Fortunate are those who live in this shelter, for the justice of God will not reach them there.”
Our Lord instructed Saint Faustina to paint His Image with the signature “Jesus I trust in You.” There is considered opinion that Jesus means each of us to personally sign this Image “Jesus I Trust in You.” (The Enthronement of the Miraculous Divine Mercy Image on the back of the card.)
Jesus walking toward us with hand up in greeting as well as stepping toward us in an invitation to come to Him.
Jesus also in points to His Heart and with His right hand conveys to us that His merciful heart is wide open to all of us. It is up us to accept His invitation as below the image: “Jesus, I Trust You”.
His all encompassing eyes follow us as we approach the image.
Bare feet, reminds us of washing of the feet of the disciples.
Replacement of the Old Testament (Blood of animals) with the New Testament (Water of Baptism) “gushing” from His heart out over us. “Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You.”
In the Old Testament there is a special significance for the Jews in the slaughtering of animals. Repeatedly Blood was sprinkled over the altar and people (Moses). Christ was the slaughtered Lamb of God. The red rays symbolizing His blood which is received by us in the consecration of the wine.
The blood of animals did not redeem us or conquer Satan, only the Blood of the Lamb conquered death and opened the gates of heaven for us.
“A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.”
(St. Gregory the Great)
To People Who Spread Devotion to Divine Mercy
Jesus said: “Souls who spread the honour of My mercy
I shield through their entire life and at the hour of death
I will not be a Judge for them, but a Merciful Savior.”
(Diary 1075)
Jesus said: “To Priests who will proclaim and extol My mercy I will give wonderful power, and I will anoint their words and I will touch the hearts of those to which they will speak.”