This is the Divine Mercy Basilica. It is very modern and spaceship-y on the outside and it has a rather spartan interior. Perhaps the stark white, barren interior is what our over-stimulated generation needs to focus on the Eucharist, but I had hoped for a little more classical beauty.
Anna and I outside the Basilica
I'm not quite sure what this means, but it was written above the entrance to the chapel St. Faustyna prayed and SAW JESUS!!!! There were even relics of her!!!
Sr. Gaudia gave a wonderful talk on St. Faustina and Divine Mercy. I thought her name was so appropriate; she just radiated joy! (gaudia is Latin for joy ;-) She told us lots of wonderful things, below are some of the gems: Whenever Sr. Faustina left the chapel after Mass, a few minutes after everyone else and walking with proper erect posture, the others would say "Look at her, a 'queen' walks there." and she would respond, "Yes, I am a queen. The royal blood flows through my veins." Later Sr. Gaudia was telling us that the basilica was built on the potato fields that St. Faustina used to plant. She recounted a story about an older sister who looked at the basilica and said, "only a saint can paint potatoes and a basilica is grown." Did you know that St. Faustina was 1.58 meters tall, had strawberry-blonde hair, and lots of freckles? Plus a bit of a temper... goes to show what God can do with the most ordinary of people.
The message of God's limitless mercy and love was so comforting after Auschwitz. As we walked through Auschwitz and Birkenau on Friday I was battling against the oppressive feeling of depression that blanketed the camp. There -had- to be something good here! God can bring good out of anything, but what good was there at Auschwitz, where children were killed because they were "worthless" and women were shorn of their hair to make socks for the Nazis? Our discussions and reading in Philosophy of the Human Person brought some intellectual sense to it... some of the poor souls in the concentration camps became stronger, nobler individuals after the test of Auschwitz... but when I saw the piles of confiscated shoes, and the names and faces of those who died lining an entire hallway, and walked through the cremation chambers the nobility of those few seemed insignificant in the face of such evil. We often say that reprehensible actions are animalistic, but this was worse .... this was barbaric. How could humanity sink to such depths?
Then we visited the convent chapel and the basilica of Divine Mercy. We saw the windows of the kitchen where St. Faustina saw Jesus. We saw the little garden she worked in, where Jesus appeared. We saw the gate where He appeared to her in the guise of a young man looking for some food. We prayed the Chaplet in the Hour of Mercy in front of the monstrance in which the Body of Christ resided during the countless times He appeared to her during adoration. We kissed her bones! We learned about the suffering, the joy, and the sheer humanity of St. Faustina. She had freckles and a temper and a longing to love God in a radical way that had never been done before. Through her the message of the ocean of God's infinite mercy that is there for the taking if only we ask for it was spread. And it occurred to me, in a manner that was more real than any similar thoughts on the matter I've had before were, that this mercy is for everyone. Even the Nazis and Capos. Especially them.
God's mercy is not just a plus that's nice to have if you think about it. It is completely necessary for our salvation. With God's grace humanity can be raised to such heights as are unimaginable even in our wildest dreams. Good people, ordinary people, and even straight-out nasty people can become wondrous testaments to the undying mercy of our Creator if only we let Him work in our lives. The potential of a human soul to shine in glorious splendor cannot be destroyed by even the most putrid doings of mankind. Neither the Nazi nor the terrorist nor the killers of the innocent are beyond the reach of His all-encompassing mercy.
Then we visited the convent chapel and the basilica of Divine Mercy. We saw the windows of the kitchen where St. Faustina saw Jesus. We saw the little garden she worked in, where Jesus appeared. We saw the gate where He appeared to her in the guise of a young man looking for some food. We prayed the Chaplet in the Hour of Mercy in front of the monstrance in which the Body of Christ resided during the countless times He appeared to her during adoration. We kissed her bones! We learned about the suffering, the joy, and the sheer humanity of St. Faustina. She had freckles and a temper and a longing to love God in a radical way that had never been done before. Through her the message of the ocean of God's infinite mercy that is there for the taking if only we ask for it was spread. And it occurred to me, in a manner that was more real than any similar thoughts on the matter I've had before were, that this mercy is for everyone. Even the Nazis and Capos. Especially them.
God's mercy is not just a plus that's nice to have if you think about it. It is completely necessary for our salvation. With God's grace humanity can be raised to such heights as are unimaginable even in our wildest dreams. Good people, ordinary people, and even straight-out nasty people can become wondrous testaments to the undying mercy of our Creator if only we let Him work in our lives. The potential of a human soul to shine in glorious splendor cannot be destroyed by even the most putrid doings of mankind. Neither the Nazi nor the terrorist nor the killers of the innocent are beyond the reach of His all-encompassing mercy.
Jesus, I entrust myself to You. Take my small acts, be they kind or despicable, and shape them into something that will magnify your glory forever. Jezu ufam tobie!
