by Fr. Eamonn Bourke

Help Me to Save Souls

Everyone is all too aware of the painful side of being a human. Feeling afraid or sad or angry is agony and we will do anything to make it stop, which can actually make things worse.

A True Joy of Being a Christian

One of the true joys of being a Christian is being able to turn to Jesus and seek comfort from Him. The more you grow in your understanding about Him, the more time you spend in communion with Him. In turn, we become aware of His presence in our life, although in subtle ways.

Save the Souls of Sinners

We turn to Him for comfort in our sufferings and He turns to us for help in His. Jesus endured His Passion so that He could save the souls of sinners. Through St. Faustina, Jesus communicated to the world that He can use our sufferings to save souls, IF we join them to His Passion. He told St. Faustina, “I have need of your sufferings to rescue souls”.(Diary 1612)

Complete Act of Faith

So, as we are lucky enough to have been granted the grace to believe in the Devotion to Divine Mercy, let us learn about how important it is to Jesus, that we join our sufferings to His, in order to help Him to save souls.

It is an act of faith, as we will never know who Jesus saved or why, but we can trust that Jesus will use our sufferings to save souls, and this should be sufficient for us at this time. In Heaven, I think that Jesus will show us how He used our offerings to rescue souls and this will be a source of great joy for us.

My Daughter, help Me to Save Sinners

Understanding this aspect of the Devotion to Divine Mercy is very important for us as followers and friends of Jesus. We trust the Catholic Church’s judgement that the Devotion to Divine Mercy is authentic so we must also trust that these messages from Jesus are true and that He can use our sufferings to rescue souls and incorporate this into our prayer life.

Below are some extracts from the Diary related to this extremely important task of all devotees of Divine Mercy. Please take time to read these slowly and meditatively. 

Saving Souls - Important Passages from the Diary of St. Faustina 

I saw the suffering Lord Jesus who leaned down toward me and whispered softly, "My daughter, help Me to save sinners". Suddenly, a burning desire to save souls entered my soul. When I recovered my senses, I knew just how I was to help souls, and I prepared myself for greater sufferings. [Diary 1645]

"My will has not yet been fully accomplished in you; you will still remain on earth, but not for long. I am well pleased with your trust, but your love should be more ardent. Pure love gives the soul strength at the very moment of dying. When I was dying on the cross, I was not thinking about Myself, but about poor sinners, and I prayed for them to My Father. I want your last moments to be completely similar to Mine on the cross. There is but one price at which souls are bought, and that is suffering united to My suffering on the cross. Pure love understands these words; carnal love will never understand them".  [Diary 324]

"Every conversion of a sinful soul demands sacrifice" [Diary 961]

Today the Lord said to me, "I have need of your sufferings to rescue souls". [Diary 1612]

During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the cross amidst great torments. A soft moan issued from His Heart. After some time, He said, I thirst. I thirst for the salvation of souls. Help Me, My daughter, to save souls. Join your sufferings to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners. [Diary 1032]