Saint Faustina’s advice on Angels

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Saint Faustina’s encounters with the heavenly spirits in the light of her diaryPart 2

By Sister M. Waclawa Siemienik ZMBM

Angels– messengers of God’s plans

The entire life of man is an earthly trial, but it is also a period of grace during which the Creator constantly reveals himself (see Isaiah 54.8). The secret intentions of the Holy Trinity are revealed to the angels as well as to the saints. These celestial friends enkindled the faith of St Faustina to know God as Holiness, before whom all powers tremble.
In the course of St Faustina’s life as a religious, there were several significant encounters with angels sent to fulfill particular missions from God. Following an eight day retreat during the renewal of her vows, she saw Jesus dressed in a white robe with a golden belt and holding a sword in his hand.

She also saw a set of scales, which fell to the ground when Jesus placed the sword on one balance. When the time came for the renewal of their vows she could see angels, who had placed something taken from each of the sisters in a gold censer placing it on the second of the balances. This gift proved heavier than the weight of the sword. At this point she heard a voice say ‘Put the sword back in its place; the sacrifice is greater’ (Diary, 394).

Having the vision of Jesus and His angels gave St Faustina a deeper awareness of how great the debt is that the world, including consecrated souls, owes to His Justice.

When she considered the mystery of the Holy Trinity she experienced a mystical vision in which she saw an unattainable brightness, light emanating from three sources, from which words issued in the form of lightning encircling heaven and earth. The Saviour came out of the brightness, with opened wounds following the Passion and she heard a voice say, ‘neither angelic nor human intelligence will be capable of fathoming the essence of God’ (Diary, 30).

So, if an angelic mind is unable to fathom the essence of the Blessed Trinity, how much less capable is the human mind of doing so.

In the vision concerning the dissemination of Divine Mercy, the presence of the Angel of God’s anger played a crucial role, casting thunder and lightning onto the earth. She turned to him, asking him to wait for a time to allow the world to do penance. Unfortunately, her request was insignificant in the face of Divine Justice. At that moment Sister Faustina saw the most Holy Trinity and felt the grace Christ was granting her, which gave her the power of fervent prayer. She made use of words, which she heard internally – ‘Eternal Father I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Praying in this way she became aware of the angel being rendered powerless to punish the world for its sins (Diary, 474). On the following day Jesus explained to the Saint that this is the Chaplet, which will quell God’s anger and encouraged her to recite it frequently.

Saint Faustina contemplated the immensity of the Divine Mercy shown to mankind. She wondered at the fact that the angels who had been disobedient to the Creator had been punished immediately. She presented this perplexity to Christ and received the answer that the heavenly spirits were granted a deep intelligence possessed by no human, not even by the greatest saints.
Encouragement to intimate contact with angels, as understood by Sister Faustina

Saint Faustina passed on to humanity her experience with the celestial spirits, encouraging a deep faith in their presence with us. She echoes the words of Padre Pio, who had said in a prophetic vision that the hour of the angels has now arrived.

Saint Faustina knew how great humanity’s debt is to God and that His anger is just. Following several visions in which she observed God’s anger, as well as the angels whom God sends to human kind, she ever more trustingly begged for God’s mercy. Her example impels mankind to an intimate relationship with the heavenly spirits, the best of guardians whom we can experience as brothers and friends. Faustina teaches that love is what is most important and that an increase in understanding the truth about God and His angels is dependant in an increase in our capacity to love. The fact that Saint Faustina met and kept company with angels of various scales within the celestial hierarchy, also illustrates the sense of continuity in the history of salvation which is still happening here and now. We can say that the Bible is not only the revelation of Divine Mercy to sinners but also the loving hand of God extended in man’s direction by means of the angels.

We are unlikely to see the angels whom God sends to us to warn us, to encourage us to conversion or to increase zeal – this is the role of our faith. We can be sure each day of our Guardian Angel’s willingness to help, granted to us by the loving bounty of the Creator.

The Secretary of the Divine Mercy encourages us to go into the depths of our own hearts, where we can always be in the company of the heavens and the earth. This is beyond the capacity of our mind to grasp solely by means of our intellect, by which we define our goals in life. The heart, into which God comes as a guest, is the sphere of the action of the Holy Spirit, often occurring through the mediation of our celestial friend. The presence of our Guardian Angel in our lives can be compared to the presence of the spirit within our bodies. Although undetectable to the eye or to the touch and only perceptible by means of a living faith, it gives assurance of its presence, enlightenment and help in taking prudent action. It is an entirely invisible and spiritual presence.

Saint Faustina tells of many angelic interventions in her life. Her encounters with these celestial visitors never obscured God, but led her to an ever-greater thankfulness for the unfathomable gifts expressed through the angels. If divine messengers were present in the history of Israel, in God’s Divine Son and in those saints, including our contemporary Sister Faustina, we can have an unshakable assurance that the Creator also sends His angels into our paths in life. They have the right and the power to influence and guide us. It is worthwhile for us to remember their presence to speak with them and call on their aid in every situation we encounter. By inviting them into our lives, we experience a friendship, which impacts in a positive way on our heart, our thoughts and desires. Christ promises us that He will acknowledge before God’s angels those who acknowledge Him before men (see Luke 12:8-9).

In one of her visions, Sister Faustina was led by her Guardian Angel before the throne of God. She saw many saints and an unattainable brightness as well as the place prepared for her, close to God. Her Guardian Angel informed her that this most particular place was reserved for her due to her faithfulness in fulfilling God’s will. However, two years prior to her death, Christ allowed his secretary a vision of hell. Her Guardian Angel accompanied her while she observed the different types of punishment there, which consists of the deprivation of God’s presence, eternal reproaches of conscience, awareness of the inalterability of one’s fate, a fire permeating the soul, as well as of despair, a hatred of the Creator and of cursing and blasphemy. ‘I, Sister Faustina, have, by the command of God been in the abysses of hell in order to testify that hell does exist’ (Diary, 741).

While being in a state of grace, let us invite the angels to instruct us how to continue doing the kind of penance which has the power to atone for our own sins and those of others. Let us call upon the aid of God’s messengers in sufferings of body and mind, in the struggles which we wage against our lusts and desires and with Satan.

Let us entrust our concerns to our celestial friends, entrusting to them the hour of our death. In situations which you considered entirely hopeless from the human standpoint, you will experience their help, while they, who contemplate the face of God, will find ways of coping with all situations in accordance with His Will.

The choice of our future fate depends on us, so let us entrust ourselves to the spirits of goodness so that they can help us to safely and joyfully come through our earthly pilgrimage.

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You are reading an article from The Angels: Messengers from a Loving God magazine, Volume 1, Issue 3. If you would like to view the full magazine with photos and artwork, please download the article in PDF, or the entire magazine in PDF or purchase a print copy (if available). Your support of this magazine enables the Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel to continue to provide this excellent source of information and reflections on the Holy Angels, and helps them meet the needs of poor and orphaned children through their missions in 13 countries. If you like the magazine, please consider subscribing.

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