Suffering is the greatest treasure
on earth; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who our true
friend is (Diary 342).
True love is measured by the
thermometer of suffering. Jesus, I thank You for the little daily
crosses, for opposition to my endeavors, for the hardships of communal
life, for the misinterpretation of my intentions, for humiliations
at the hands of others, for the harsh way in which we are treated,
for false suspicions, for poor health and loss of strength, for
self-denial, for dying to myself, for lack of recognition in everything,
for the upsetting of all my plans.
Thank You, Jesus, for interior
suffering, for dryness of spirit, for terrors, fears and incertitudes,
for the darkness and the deep interior night, for temptations and
various ordeals, for torments too difficult to describe, especially
for those which no one will understand, for the hour of death with
its fierce struggle and all its bitterness.
I thank You, Jesus, You who
first drank the cup of bitterness before You gave it to me, in a
much milder form. I put my lips to this cup of Your holy will. Let
all be done according to Your good pleasure; let that which Your
wisdom ordained before the ages be done to me. I want to drink the
cup to its last drop, and not seek to know the reason why. In bitterness
is my joy, in hopelessness is my trust. In You, O Lord, all is good,
all is a gift of Your paternal Heart. I do not prefer consolations
over bitterness or bitterness over consolations, but thank You,
O Jesus, for everything! It is my delight to fix my gaze upon You,
O incomprehensible God! My spirit abides in these mysterious dwelling
places, and there I am at home. I know very well the dwelling place
of my Spouse. I feel there is not a single drop of blood in me that
does not burn with love for You.
O Uncreated Beauty, whoever
comes to know You once cannot love anything else. I can feel the
bottomless abyss of my soul, and nothing will fill it but God himself.
I feel that I am drowned in Him like a single grain of sand in a
bottomless ocean (Diary 343).
†
Jesus speaks to you and me in
Conversation of the Merciful God With a Suffering Soul also
from the Diary.
Feast
of the Triumph of the Holy Cross
Diary,
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987
Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate
Conception Stockbridge, MA 01263
Used with permission.
