After I published the post below, I was reminded that the Way of Divine Love may be confused with the false devotion to the Divine Mercy. That devotion was condemned by the same Pope, Pius XII who approved Sister Josefa’s Way of Divine Love. The revelations of Divine Mercy were also condemned twice by Pope John XXIII’s Holy Office. In fact, the image itself was condemned. It was not until John Paul II got his saint-making factory geared up that we had the novelty of a false apparition being proclaimed by a Pope.
The Divine Mercy image itself mocks the beautiful image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Instead of pointing to His Heart, pierced by a lance, encircled in cruel thorns (our sins) and burning with love for souls, we have a strange image purporting to be Jesus pointing to His chest. No heart because no suffering, no suffering because no sin. No sin means mercy unconditional, right in line with the post-conciliar church’s emphasis on universal salvation. No “solemn nonsense” here!
Sister Faustina, in her writings claims that Jesus told her that, “I am uniting Myself with you so intimately as with no other creature.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of Sr. Faustina, Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987, p. 288) By that one quote Sister Faustina claims that Jesus esteems her higher than the Blessed Virgin Mary! There are many other similar quotes in her writings. And so it becomes clear that the devotion to the Divine Mercy offers no real benefit that cannot be received through devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The distinction between the Way of Divine Love and the false Divine Mercy is that the Way of Divine Love teaches us that God’s love for us is inseparable from His justice and that love entails reparation. That is essential in these times. The false devotion to the Divine Mercy reflects the entire post Vatican emphasis on the saccharin “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” It appeals to the lmodernist church of today where the only true sinners are those who obey the Church’s true teachings.
The Way of Divine Love
Sister Josefa Menendez received her apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus while cloistered in the Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Poitiers, France from 1920 through 1923 when she died. The messages which she received from the Sacred Heart of Jesus are completely complementary with the message of Fatima and are especially beneficial in carrying out the commands given by Our Lord to Sister Lucia that we offer to Him as a sacrifice, all our daily duties.
As I continue my preparation for the renewal of my Total Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary on December 8th, Sister Josefa’s book, The Way of Divine Love has been a wonderful help. It is published by TAN and has an endorsement by Pope Pius XII. I strongly recommend it! Here is a good excerpt from it, although almost any page would have yielded a similar result, it is that packed with beautiful inspirations! From pages 213-215:
“Write for My souls…The soul who constantly unites her life with Mine glorifies Me and does a great work for souls. Thus, if engaged on work of no value in itself…if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I myself did during My mortal life, it will greatly benefit souls ... more perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world … and that, whether she studies, speaks or writes … whether she sews, sweeps or rests … provided first that the act is sanctioned by obedience or duty and not done from mere caprice; and secondly that it is done in intimate union with Me, with great purity of intention and covered with My Blood.
“I so much want souls to understand this! It is not the action itself which is of value; it is the intention with which it is done. … I have many hidden souls who in their humble labors are very useful workers in My vineyard, for they are moved by love, and they know how to cover their deeds with supernatural gold by bathing them in My Blood. My love goes so far that My souls can draw great treasure out of mere nothing. When as soon as they wake they unite themselves to Me and offer their whole day with a burning desire that My Heart may use it for the profit of souls … when with love they perform their duties, hour by hour and moment by moment … how great is the treasure they amass in one day!”
“I will reveal My love to them more and more … it is inexhaustible, and how easy it is for a loving soul to let itself be guided by love.”
The following day, Our Lord told Sister Josefa:
“I would like them to know how much I desire their perfection, and that it consists in doing their ordinary actions in intimate union with Me. If they once grasped this, they could divinize their life and all their activities by this close union with My Heart … and how great is the value of a divinized day! … When a soul is burnt up with desire to love, nothing is a burden to her, but if she feels cold and spiritless everything becomes hard and difficult … let her then come to My Heart to revive her courage … Let her offer Me her dejection and unite it to My fervor; then she may rest content, for her day will be of incomparable value to souls. All human miseries are known to My Heart, and My compassion for them is great.” …
“But I desire souls to unite themselves to Me not only in a general way. I long for this union to be constant and intimate as it is between friends who live together, for even if they are not talking all the time, at least they look at each other, and their mutual affectionate little kindnesses are the fruit of their love.”
“… But if she (soul) is in the throes of desolation and anguish, she need not fear. I am content with a glance, I understand and this mere look will draw down on her special proofs of My tenderness. I will repeat again to souls how My Heart loves them for I want them to know Me thoroughly that they may make me known to those I place in their care.”
“I ardently desire My chosen souls to fix their eyes on Me and never turn them away .. and among them there should be no mediocrity, which usually is the result of a misunderstanding of My love. No! It is neither difficult nor hard to love My Heart, but on the contrary, it is sweet and easy. They need do nothing extraordinary to attain a high degree of love: purity of intention, be the action great or small … intimate union with My Heart and love will do the rest.”
Once I discovered, by God’s grace, Our Lady of Fatima’s true message, I struggled mightily with the task of offering my daily duties as reparation, but quickly became discouraged. And then, once again by praying to Sister Lucia to help me, I discovered Sister Josefa’s marvelously simple “Way of Divine Love” and it has profited me immensely! I wish I could express to you how valuable this book is and hope that by reading the above excerpt you will be inclined to obtain a copy. It is also available as a Kindle download. Both versions are reasonably priced.
Now here is a neat coincidence: Sister Josefa’s sister Angela entered the Carmel of Coimbra, Portugal where she was Mistress of Novices when Sister Lucia entered the Carmel! Wouldn’t you love to have been able to be a “fly on the wall” at their meetings!
The thing I like about Sister Josefa’s message is that it is balanced. As you read her life, you cannot help but be impressed by the sacrificial nature of it – the diabolical attacks, the descents into Hell itself, the great suffering, but also the peace and joy that came from total oblation to the will of God, total union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It seems clear to me that Sister Josefa’s messages comply perfectly with Sister Lucia’s.
We are now going through such challenging times and this pope may well have yet more misery in store for us; but we have been given such tremendous blessings! We know that the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus will sustain us and our loved ones and that they have provided us with a safe passage through the chaos and the shortest path to union with them.
Thanks be to God!
Remember, pray the Rosary and confound the devil!