Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul Paperback – January 1, 2003

I've heard that some people don't like this diary, for whatever reason. I haven't heard specific reasons. However, this book is a masterpiece.Firstly, it has stellar spiritual advice which echos St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila and the Gospel- in an easily understood format. That means that it's up to the highest standard of the Church as regards teaching about prayer and spiritual progress. Secondly, it contains the message of God's mercy in particular which is literally impossible to understand and get your mind around. It also has a detailed account of the interior dispositions of a canonized Saint, and how they approached life's situation while living perfectly the grace of God. The only thing I would say is that scrupulous souls should understand how many fault St. Faustina talks about that she confesses are imperfections, and these may be confessed. But just be careful to understand that her soul is so pure the merest specks of dust are bothersome. That is the only thing that could go wrong, if you were at the same time ignoring all the bolded words from Jesus which are pure mercy.This book changed my life at 14, and I've read it 3 times cover to cover, comparing with other spiritual classics. This is pertinent to our times, and very worth the read. It's so packed with interesting anecdotes as well that one doesn't feel it's long.I'd recommend for anyone discerning a vocation to religious life, as the motivations of a religious are explicit in their perfect form, as they are in the works of St. Therese.Buy! Read!

I've been praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on and off for years, and I've found this prayer to be extremely powerful. That said, the Diary of St. Faustina helped me to appreciate Jesus Christ, love Him better. and learn the history of this chaplet. Because of her personal relationship with Jesus and with God, it helped me to understand my own journey with Christ more clearly.Even though St. Faustina, who was chosen to write about Divine Mercy by Jesus, said she wasn't trained as a writer. But to me, her soulful words are some of the most beautiful and powerful I've ever read. Nearly every passage was filled with gems of wisdom. My highlighter is constantly busy while I read her diary. Within her notebooks, there are even passages that read like prayers.Her book is also helping me with my own personal journey back to Christ. St. Faustina spoke vividly about the trials and tribulations she underwent. I'm not trying to be sadistic, but I liked reading about them, because it taught me a great deal how to manage my own periods of sadness and spiritual struggles. During St. Faustina's darkest periods of suffering, she didn't lose her equilibrium by cultivating silence and her inner peace. She never lost her love or respect for God by blaspheming Him. She used prayer and silence as an effective weapon to disarm all problems.Some critics have said St. Faustina spoke with a childlike simplicity. But, I guess the purest love is expressed in a similar fashion. She was extremely humble always submitting her will to that of God's. One of my favorite pages in her diary was when she wrote down the words "My Will," on one page, then crossed the words out with a huge "X" and on an opposite page, placed on an opposite page how she'd only submit to God's will. St. Faustina was warm, kind and loving. She was like a star, whose love for God and Christ was incredibly pure, unapologetic and unconditional. She's become an example, to me, of what a true Christian and saint should be.I highly recommend this book for any Christian -- whether they are Catholic -- or not.

I first read Saint Faustina's book Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul when she was plain old Sister Faustina, and a rather daunting twentieth-century mystic. The book freaked me out in several places, especially the locutions from Jesus and the visions of the afterlife. I was drawn to the book, but it frightened me, when I had just come back to the Church after a period of atheism. This was the mid-1980's also, when visionaries, mystics and classic Catholic spirituality was on the wane in the United States. Devotional books as intense as Saint Faustina's had given way to more careful, distanced spirituality. So I put the book away.I came back to it several times over the years, and always found much to intrigue, inspire and challenge me. I found it again in a Eucharistic Adoration chapel a few months ago, and bought it for myself after using it to great effect in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed. At this point, in my sixth decade of life, with classic Catholicism in full bloom wherever I look, I am finding it a wonderful book to deepen my knowledge of and relationship with Christ. I highly recommend it to Christians, especially Catholics, of all ages. When I first picked the book up in the 80's, Eucharistic Adoration was a dream from the past, as were novenas, the rosary, Benediction, and other devotions and practices of my childhood. Today's younger Catholics are fortunate to once again have ready access to all of the traditional and classic modes of prayer and devotion that have nourished the Catholic faithful over the centuries. This book was made for the ages -- and the Divine Mercy is now coming into Its own.