Our mission with The Face of Mercy is focused on helping people in the Church better reflect the mercy of God to those living with mental illness. This isn’t a mission tangential to the Faith or something extra. In the bull of indiction from the year of mercy it reads: “Mercy is the foundation of the Church’s life.” Mental illness is not something that has been as known and understood throughout the centuries, but the overall focus of extending the love and compassion of Christ to all, and most especially to those suffering is a constant in the Church. There are countless saints whose lives exemplify that mercy and I’d love to share more about seven that stand out to me as ‘Missionaries of Mercy.’
St. Faustina is perhaps the saint most associated with devotion to the merciful heart of God. Jesus himself in the Divine Mercy apparitions, chose and named her as apostle and secretary of mercy. “Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world” (Diary 1588) The content of the Divine Mercy apparitions and St. Faustina’s writing as worth way more attention than this brief post. Over and over throughout her autobiography the focus is on trust in God’s mercy, receiving it well, and extending that same mercy to others. There are so many prayers that she wrote that capture the mission of The Face of Mercy, to reflect the heart of Christ to others, like this one: “O my Jesus, each of Your saints reflects one of Your virtues; I desire to reflect Your compassionate heart, full of mercy; I want to glorify it. Let Your mercy, O Jesus, be impressed upon my heart and soul like a seal, and this will be my badge in this and the future life” (Diary 1242).
Francis de Sales was known for his gentleness and emphasis on the universal call to holiness in ordinary life. He intentionally combatted his quick temper, in order to be to others what they needed. He particularly captures the heart of our mission in his spiritual care and friendship with Jane Frances. She struggled with depression and scruples (in part due to a severe spiritual director). Under the advisement of Francis however she found great peace even though her depression and temptations never left. In their friendship we not only see the impact of the compassionate love he extended to her, but also the way that she with her own unique gifts inspired him.
Pope John Paul 2 was an amazing preacher of human dignity and the power of suffering! His own life was a testament to how God works through suffering. Every big moment in his own life and following of God’s call was also marked by the loss of someone important to him. “The Message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me… which I took with me to the See of Peter and which it in a sense forms the image of this Pontificate.” He preached and wrote about mercy, he canonized many saints who exemplified mercy, including St. Faustina, and two others on this list. He even consecrated the whole world to Divine Mercy, saying: "I do so with the burning desire that the message of God's merciful love, proclaimed here through St. Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth, and fill their hearts with hope.”
Padre Pio was focused on living and growing in love (love of God & neighbor) throughout his life and priestly ministry. He had a particular focus on those who were suffering, ministering to them as he would minister to Christ. One big act of love that St. Pio gave himself to was the creation of a home for the sick. He exhorted the doctors to be sure their medical treatment was done with love, saying ... “if you don’t bring love to the sickbed, I don’t think the medicines will be of much use...love cannot manage without words.” He was an extraordinary confessor and drew crowds all the time. One account described him as “living compassion with the sinner in the confessional.” (Cardinal José Saraiva Martins) While many recount stories in which Fr. Pio spoke harshly, those were often directed at those who were not penitent and his words often led them to examine themselves and have a real conversion of heart. There are an equal number of stories of his gentle love, including one confessee who found herself unable to talk, so Fr. Pio recounted her sins for her to take the pressure off and allow her to be reconciled to God. His heroic love was noted in the process of his canonization “An expression of the greatness of his charity toward neighbor was his welcoming, for over fifty years, plenty of people, that hastened to his sacred ministry, to his counsels and to his comfort... In the poor men, in the suffering ones, and in the patients he saw the image of Christ and he was especially available for them.” (official decree of heroic virtue)
Mother Teresa’s life was an embodiment of mercy. In her life, this was put into action caring for the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta. Mother Teresa was always adamant though, that every person was called to do small, ordinary things with great love. She also emphasized that loneliness, despair, hopelessness, and feeling unloved are a greater poverty than what she saw in the ill and poor in India. Her humble life captured well what it is to be The Face of Mercy to others, to first see Christ suffering in our neighbor and then “Love them. Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart. Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don’t only give your care, but give your heart as well.” In many of her speeches and interactions she reminded people that we are called to be “[God’s] love and His compassion to the poor.”
Ignatius of Loyola’s contributions to the Church all come from wanting to give to others what he had received from God. His ministry was focused on accompaniment, a walking with others, much as The Face of Mercy seeks to equip the modern Church to do in ministry. His work on the spiritual exercises and discernment of spirits provide a calm, methodical way of navigating emotional responses in the spiritual life. These great spiritual tools largely arose out of his own experience as a highly emotional person and one who had experienced much emotional distress early in his conversion. His focus was always on giving to others the same mercy he had received from God.
Claude de la Colombiere is most known for his work as a spiritual director to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque. This young nun, who had visions of the Sacred Heart and was called to spread this devotion, was plagued by anxiety and distressed. To aid her in her mission, the Lord promised to send her a “faithful servant and perfect friend.” Claude embraced this mission whole-heartedly as his own. His charism, according to Sr. Margaret, "was that of bringing souls to God along the Gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us". Prayer of St. Claude
May these saints intercede for each of us that we may radiate the mercy of God!
May these saints intercede for our Church to be known for this mercy!
More about these saints:
Homily from Faustina's Canonization
Biography of St. Mary Faustina
Biography of St. Francis de Sales
Friendship of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal
JP2 Homily on Divine Mercy
JP2 Encyclical on Divine Mercy
St. Pio's Vatican Biography
Padre Pio’s Love
Biography of St. Teresa of Calcutta
Book about St. Teresa of Calcutta
St. Ignatius & Accompaniment
Biography of St. Ignatius
Biography of St. Claude