When I need prayer I call a few dedicated prayer warriors to come alongside me, and many times I ask the intercession of saints to help my cause. There is a misconception about Catholics that we pray to saints; we do not. What we do is ask for their intercession. St. Faustina is one of my favorite saints. I would like to share  her story, and will do my best to open your hearts to this holy saint. St. Faustina was canonized on April 30, 2000 in Rome, and she  is to the history of the Catholic Church most influential in the teaching of Divine Mercy; this was her calling.

We were in Rome and were privileged to witness St. Fautina’s canonization. Our team arrived in Turin to visit the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, at that time there was an exposition of the Holy Shroud of Turin. Mike (my husband) was meeting us there. From there we went to Rome, and the ride took almost the entire day but the view was scenic and bountiful to my eyes. I wanted to stop and stroll the streets of Genoa, but it was not to be, we had an assignment in Rome.

We settled in Rome at our usual hotel, Mike and I and the rest of the team had tickets to the audience with Pope John Paul II the following day. We had no idea that a canonization was to take place that day. I knew very little of  St. Faustina and was elated to be part of this great celebration. As we sat, a huge picture of St. Faustina was rolled down above St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. This was not a planned occurrence but rather God ordained, I knew then that I would have a special attachment with this humble servant of God.

Rome was bustling with these nuns with usually big headpieces, which resembled the ones used on the Flying Nun (old television program).These nuns were from Poland, and belong to The Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina’s order. They were there to celebrate the canonization as well. We took our seats and witnessed this event; I was more curious and wanted to learn more about St. Faustina. It would be two years later that we made a pilgrimage to Krakow, Poland.

St. Faustina had regular visitations from Jesus. Her encounters were filled with intimate conversation and instruction as Jesus chose her to be his spokesperson to spread his Divine Mercy. St. Faustina was given a vision of our Lord and was asked to have a picture of Jesus painted. This was not any ordinary painting but one of Divine Mercy. From her diary, these are the words Jesus spoke to her: “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory.” Along with this image came the prayer to the Divine Mercy, which is to be prayed at the 3:00 hour. The 3:00 hour is the hour at which our Lord died on the cross. There are many graces that come with this prayer; in Jesus’s words: “I remind you, My daughter, that as often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; at  that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world- mercy triumphed over justice.” This simple prayer is to be prayed on Rosary beads. The prayer is to appease the wrath of God and goes as follows: “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and the whole world.” This prayer is needed more than ever today; imagine that our Lord teaching this to St. Faustina with the intention of the whole world understanding his Divine Mercy.

In 2002 we visited Poland on a pilgrimage to the Divine Mercy. We were given great favor at one of the services held in the Chapel. Our team was invited to sit at the altar, where we sang the Divine Mercy song to the congregation. I remember the feeling of disbelief  to be part of  a choir and for it to take place where Jesus spoke to the young saint. To the left side of the altar hanging was the original painting that Jesus commissioned St. Faustina to paint. I could not believe that I was there and participating in that manner, and a sense of humility filled my heart.

The first Sunday after Easter is dedicated  to celebrate Divine Mercy. We were there to celebrate with the locals of Krakow. To accommodate the  thousands of people, an outdoor Mass was held. I was with a group of eight  friends but because the mayhem of people, we were quickly separated to only four. When it came to communion time it appeared that the villagers were going to trample us. As the crowd tightened toward the priest giving communion, I felt hard pushing and there was no room for escape. My foot had been run over by a stroller which held a red faced baby with chubby cheeks. When we received the Eucharist, we were in danger of a stampede by the villagers. In a panic I pretended to throw up. Holding one hand to my mouth, I made a distinguished universal barf sound, and just like God parted the Red Sea for Moses, he did it for us as we ran out of harm’s way.

I am just giving a small abstract about the life of this holy saint, who has made a huge difference in my prayer life. I pray that you will experience drawing closer to our Lord with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Do not allow the enemy to rob you of this prayer because you do not believe in saints, but rather understand that Jesus used St. Faustina to bring the message of Divine Mercy to the world. Remember many are called but few are chosen (Mt 22:14).

Dear Friends the Lord is warning us to come together as a country and pray. On September 7, 2017, Mexico was hit with a 8.1- magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast, and this quake is the largest recorded earthquake in that area in a century.

Hurricane Harvey, which devoured a large part of southeastern Texas and continued eastward, destroyed billions of dollars of property and took the lives over 70 people.  Now we are faced with Irma, She is coming with a vengeance to scare us straight. The meaning of name Harvey is “battle worthy” but the name Irma means “whole, universe, war goddess.” How are these names picked? The names are determined by the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva (WMO). There are six separate list of names for Atlantic Ocean storms which are rotated annually. I believe that God has a big hand on these names. We need to pay attention to the signs and stop all the bickering and get on our knees as a nation and pray. These storms are nonpartisan, and do not respect property or human life. They are diabolical with an assignment to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). This is apocalyptic, and we need to pay attention to what is happening around us. This is how God speaks to a stubborn nation- do not harden your hearts, He is in control!

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked way; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

When our daughter was attending Pepperdine University she came to visit us in Santa Barbara, CA. She had met this young man from Malibu, CA and was eager for us to meet her new boyfriend.   My beautiful daughter walked in with this strange young man tatted from head to toe with piercings in his nose, eyesbrows, tongue and ears. He wore a heavy chain on the world’s widest bellbottoms attached to his wallet. This jaw dropping experience left me with visual scars. From this day forth, I felt that I had a mandate from God to find Sonja a husband. This short journey got me in a lot of trouble.

The Interviews

I was on a missionary trip to the Czech Republic and I remember chasing after a priest with a prayer request to find the right husband for Sonja. This was a common occurrence, and wherever I traveled, I made it a point to include this prayer request. I was obsessed with this task and even got Mike involved. He arranged for a blind date with one of his younger golfing buddies. This was the biggest disaster ever! But did I learn my lesson? Nope, I continued to work diligently in meddling in all of my poor daughter’s affairs.

At another wedding, I did something so shameful that it pains me to write about it. I went as far as getting a young man’s phone number from Sonja’s cell phone bill and called him. This guy was a physical therapist and I came up with a creative opening  dialogue about my dog having a hip problem. From this conversation, I smoothly  transitioned into asking him how things were progressing with him and Sonja. The nerve of this young man, he never called Sonja again. Sonja got wind of this and I still did not understand why she was so upset. I was just trying to help.

I continued with my odd behavior until I received a dream. I was in the Holy Land when the Lord gave me this dream. In the dream Sonja was being fitted for her wedding dress, and she was standing on a riser in the bridal shop. I was lurking in the background and I could see how happy she was. The dress was beautiful, especially the bottom, which had intricate beadings and a lot of beautiful detailing. When Sonja and the seamstress left the room, I came in with a needle and thread and started to hem the dress myself. I heard them coming so I quickly ran out. Sonja started to cry, “Who would do this terrible thing? The most beautiful part of my dress is missing!” I woke up crying and prayed for forgiveness for all the meddling and embarrassment that I caused Sonja. After the dream I realized what I was doing was so wrong that my prayers were misguided and controlling to the point of witchcraft. What I mean by this is that I was not allowing God to do what was best for Sonja. My prayers were not efficacious and God set me straight in the dream. What I should have been doing was asking God to do His will in Sonja’s life, not begging for him to find her a husband.

The young man from Malibu turned out to be a sweet gentleman, but remember this was almost 20 years ago when piercings and tattoos were still frowned upon. I promise I will have nothing negative to say about people who choose to express themselves with tattoos but back then it was taboo.

Soon all was forgiven, and Sonja introduced us to Russ at our annual Tamale Party. Russ’s first appearance did not go over well with me because I was still that judgmental mother wanting the best for our daughter. I still had some controlling stuff I needed to get rid of. Russ had this huge hair thing going on, and it was way too long.  After a few dates, Sonja invited Russ over for breakfast. I remember  sarcastically asking him, “So do you even go to church?” Russ replied,”I’m Catholic.”  It was as if harps and heavenly trumpets went off in my head! From hearing this I knew he was the one that God had chosen for Sonja, and I had nothing to do with this union. Russ is a perfect fit for our family and we love him dearly.

My Prayer

Prayer for unmarried children: Heavenly Father, I know you have a perfect plan for sons/daughters future. I am asking that you bring the right person in their lives that are going to care and love them for who they are. Lord, you are in control of their lives, and all I’m asking is that they find the right helpmate and that this marriage be sanctified by you. Amen!

Mothers of the world, do not try to control who your children are going to date or marry. Remember, God has the perfect person for each one of them. Don’t mess with God’s plan.