MEMORIAL SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN; BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, PRIEST; SAINT FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN AND SAINT PLACID, MARTYR – FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 5TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Virgin; Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest; Saint Flora, Virgin and Saint Placid, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mental and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN: St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) was born and baptized with the name Helena Kowalska on August 25, 1905 to a poor but devout Polish family She was the third of ten children, born in what is now west-central Poland. She grew up during the tough years leading up to and following the first World War, and received little formal education. She worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow in 1925, at the age of twenty with very little education, and having been rejected from several other convents because of her poverty and lack of education. There, she took the name Sr. Faustina and spent time in convents in both Poland and Lithuania. There she was given simple, humble jobs which hid her deep interior life. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses. In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, generously serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, Sister Faustina’s deep interior life included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors. Throughout her life, Jesus appeared to Sr. Faustina. She was graced with mystical visions and revelations from Jesus, as well as her Guardian Angel and certain Saints. Jesus gave her the mission to proclaim His infinite, powerful, loving mercy to the whole world, especially to hardened sinners and those facing the hour of their death. Jesus asked her to become an apostle and secretary of His mercy, by writing down His messages of Divine Mercy for the world in her diary. Jesus also asked Sr. Faustina to have an image painted of his Divine Mercy, with red and white rays issuing from his heart, and to spread devotion to the Divine Mercy novena. Sr. Faustina, as Jesus’ “secretary and apostle of Divine Mercy”, faithfully recorded these messages in great detail in a nearly 700-page diary. In it she promoted devotion to the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ as instructed by Our Lord Himself, now famous throughout the Church, and a great consolation for many souls who would otherwise fear to approach God because of their burden of sin.
At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. “I do not want to punish aching mankind,” he once told Saint Faustina, “but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The two rays emanating from Christ’s heart, she said, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death. Because Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.”
St. Maria Faustina died at the age of 33 from tuberculosis on October 5, 1938 in Krakow, Poland. Even before her death devotion to Divine Mercy began to spread throughout Poland.This little nun and Jesus’ message of Divine Mercy impacted Karol Wojtyla,.Pope St. John Paul II greatly, which became obvious to the world when he was elected Pope. St. Faustina was beatified in 1993 and canonized by the first Polish Pope, Pope John Paul II, on April 30, 2000 in what he was widely reported as saying was “the happiest day of my life.” The first Sunday after Easter was declared Divine Mercy Sunday instituted Pope John Paul II, which Jesus had asked for in his messages to Sr. Faustina. Saint Faustina’s name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and the Divine Mercy prayer recited each day at 3 p.m. by many people.
SAINT FAUSTINA KOWALSKA’S HEALING PRAYER: Jesus, may Your pure and healthy blood circulate in my ailing organism, and may Your pure and healthy body transform my weak unhealthy body, and may a healthy and vigorous life flowing within me, if it is truly Your Holy will. Amen.🙏
THE CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY: The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy is prayed on ordinary Rosary beads: Optional Opening Prayer (especially prayed at the 3 o’clock hour)
3 O’Clock Prayer: You expired Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls and the ocean of Mercy, opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, O unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water, which gushed from the Heart of Jesus, as a fountain for us, we trust in You. (3 times ‘O Blood and Water)
(Essential Opening Prayer – on the first 3 beads after the Cross)
Our Father; Hail Mary; Apostle’s Creed
On the 1 ‘Our Father’ bead of each decade pray:
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.
On the 10 ‘Hail Mary’ beads of each decade pray:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and on the whole world.
(Repeat with the remaining decades: 1 “Eternal Father…” & 10 “For the sake…”)
Closing Prayers: (At the end of the 5 decades)
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have Mercy on us and on the whole world. (Repeat 3 times)
Optional Closing Prayer
Eternal God, in whom Mercy is endless, and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible. Look kindly upon us and increase your Mercy in us, so that in difficult moments, we may not despair nor become despondent but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your Holy Will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
SAINT FAUSTINA’S PRAYER TO BE MERCIFUL:
Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbour’s souls and come to their rescue.
Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbours’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.
Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbour, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbours and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.
Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbour overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbour.
Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbour. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me… Amen🙏
BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, PRIEST: Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867) was one of 12 children born to Mang and Frances Schwarzenbach Seelos, entered the world on January 11, 1819, in Fussen (Bavaria, Germany). He was baptized on the same day in the parish church of Saint Mang where his father, after having been a textile merchant, would, in 1830, become the sacristan. Having completed his primary education in 1831, he expressed a desire to become a priest and, with the encouragement of his Pastor, he attended middle school at the Institute of Saint Stephen in Augsburg. Receiving his diploma in 1839, he went on to the University in Munich, Bavaria, where he completed his studies in Philosophy. He then began to study theology in preparation to enter the seminary where he was admitted on September 19, 1842. It was during this time that through his acquaintance with the missionaries of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, he came to know both the charism of the Institute, founded to evangelize the most abandoned, and its apostolic works, especially those among the immigrants in the United States of America. Bl. Francis went to North America in 1843. Receiving the necessary approval on November 22, 1842, he sailed the following March 17, from the port of Le Havre, France, arriving in New York on April 20, 1843. Bl. Francis Xavier was inspired to be a Redemptorist missionary priest in the U.S. to serve the German immigrants. There he entered the Redemptorist novitiate. After completion his theological studies, being ordained a priest in December 22, 1844 at the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. He began his pastoral ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at St. Philomena’s Parish in Pittsburgh where he remained nine years, working closely as assistant pastor of his confrere St. John Neumann, while at the same time serving as Master of Novices and dedicating himself to mission preaching. St. John Neumann was his spiritual director and encouraged him to preach missions. Fr. Seelos lived a simple lifestyle, serving the poor and abandoned. He was called the “Cheerful Ascetic,” the “American Wonderworker,” the “Doctor of Souls,” for his intercession in healing bodies and souls. He was assigned to parishes in Detroit, Baltimore, and New Orleans.
In 1854, he returned to Baltimore, later being transferred to Cumberland and then Annapolis, where he served in parochial ministry and in the formation of the Redemptorist seminarians. He was considered an expert confessor, a watchful and prudent spiritual director and a pastor always joyfully available and attentive to the needs of the poor and the abandoned. In 1860, he was a candidate for the office of Bishop of Pittsburgh. Having been excused from this responsibility by Pope Pius IX, he became a full-time itinerant missionary preacher, preaching in both English and German in a number of different states. One of the places he served was New Orleans, Louisiana. In God’s plan, however, his ministry in New Orleans was destined to be brief. In the month of September, exhausted from visiting and caring for the victims of Yellow Fever, he contracted the dreaded disease. After several weeks of patiently enduring his illness, he passed on to eternal life on October 4, 1867, at the age of 48 years and 9 months. Blessed Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2000. Patron Saint against cancer.
PRAYER: O God, who made your Priest Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos outstanding in love, that he might proclaim the mysteries of redemption and comfort those in affliction, grant, by his intercession, that we may work zealously for your glory and for the salvation of mankind. Amen 🙏
SAINT FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN: Saint Flora of Beaulieu (1309-1347) was born in France about the year 1309. She was a devout child and later resisted all attempts on the part of her parents to find a husband for her. In 1324, she entered the Priory of Beaulieu of the Hospitaller nuns of St. John of Jerusalem. Here she was beset with many and diverse trials, fell into a depressed state, and was made sport of by some of her religious sisters. However, she never ceased to find favor with God and was granted many unusual and mystical favors. One year on the feast of All Saints, she fell into an ecstasy and took no nourishment until three weeks later on the feast of St. Cecelia. On another occasion, while meditating on the Holy Spirit, she was raised four feet from the ground and hung in the air in full view of many onlookers. She also seemed to be pierced with the arms of Our Lord’s cross, causing blood to flow freely at times from her side and at others, from her mouth. Other instances of God’s favoring of his servant were also reported, concerning prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally know. Through it all, St. Flora remained humble and in complete communion with her Divine Master, rendering wise counsel to all who flocked to her because of her holiness and spiritual discernment. In 1347, she was called to her eternal reward and many miracles were worked at her tomb. She’s the Patron Saint of the abandoned, of converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal, suicidal, depressed, victims of betrayal, single laywomen. Her Feast Day is October 5
PRAYER: God, You showed heavenly gifts on St. Flora. Help us imitate her virtues during our earthly life and ejoy eternal happiness with her in heaven. Amen 🙏
SAINT PLACID, MARTYR: Saint Placid, also known as St. Placidus was a disciple of Saint Benedict. He was born in Rome, in the year 515, of a patrician family, the son of the patrician Tertullus. He was brought as a child, at seven years of age to St. Benedict at the monastery of Sublaqueum and dedicated to God as provided for in chapter 69 of the Rule of St. Benedict. St. Placid and His Companions. At thirteen years of age he followed St. Benedict to the new foundation at Monte Casino, where he grew up in the practice of a wonderful austerity and innocence of life. He had scarcely completed his twenty-first year when he was selected to establish a monastery in Sicily upon some estates which had been given by his father to St. Benedict. He spent four years in building his monastery; and the fifth had not elapsed before an inroad of barbarians burned everything to the ground, and put to a lingering death not only St. Placid and thirty monks who had joined him, but also his two brothers, Eutychius and Victorinus, and his holy sister Flavia, who had come to visit him. The monastery was rebuilt, and still stands under his invocation. He’s the Patron Saint of Messina (co-patron), Biancavilla, Castel di Lucio, Montecarotto, Poggio Imperiale.
Saint Placid, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏