Notebook I

[John]

Share your thoughts, comments or favorite passages from Notebook 1 here.

[Bless Praise]

I m reading it currently.I had a similar experience of Dark night of soul that Faustina experienced and there was hate towards prayer yet i dint understood why this is happening but now i see that the spiritual dryness is a suffering Jesus allows to make us strong.

[John]

I haven't finished reading this notebook yet, but was in wonder the other day at the suffering she went through and her perseverance. I was thinking about the great tests she underwent and wondered why some souls are tested to such a degree, but not others, not me. I realized that I have failed tests much, much less severe, so have never approached a level of spirituality where I could be tested. A somewhat painful thought.

As I thought further, I wondered, why are some souls so great and other souls, mine, so lacking, and the thought came to me that it isn't a question of a lack of greatness, but a lack of humility. A lack of recognition of my own worthlessness and utter dependence on God for everything.

I didn't really want to read this book. The Divine Mercy devotion has never moved me much and the Divine Mercy drawing has always struck me as kitschy. I feared an overly pietistic book that would be painful to read. My fears doubled when I got the book and saw it is over 700 pages. Boy was I wrong - what a blessing this book is. I would like to thank each of you who voted for it for doing so. I have adopted her Mercy Prayer (paragraph 163) as my morning prayer.

[Bless Praise]

Its true that God allows this sort of sufferings to some souls in particular.I think God allowed this suffering to me since i am going to join seminary soon.He has a plan for me and to make me stronger in faith.Like faustina said, during this spiritual dryness i felt as if i had angered God and God has abandoned me.So i was always desperate and in grief. I couldn control my anger at the people around me but before i would loose my mind God took away this suffering and prayer became a moment of Gods love again.Now i know that daily mass and confession twice a week saved me from loosing myself in this suffering.I would recommend everyone to attend mass daily and confess twice a week if you are to survive during this suffering.

[Jill]

John wrote: "I haven't finished reading this notebook yet, but was in wonder the other day at the suffering she went through and her perseverance. I was thinking about the great tests she underwent and wondered..."

Bless wrote: "I m reading it currently.I had a similar experience of Dark night of soul that Faustina experienced and there was hate towards prayer yet i dint understood why this is happening but now i see that ..."

I too have been mightily resisting reading this book and also find the "rays" art kitschy.
I was struck by 15. "I had a heart so big that nothing would be capable of filling it. And so I turned with all the longing of my soul to God." Like Augustine.
18. Her desire for a more contemplative community, more time for prayer, seems so right "but the will of God was not in it."
20. interesting that the souls in Purgatory say their greatest suffering isn't any other pain than their longing for God. Do I shove that down?
23. I've never felt "unworthy"!
25. She begins by complaining because Jesus is "hiding" then resolves to stop complaining.
27. How can "active love" be imperceptible to others?
28. I love her story about being denied wearing a hair shirt and Jesus telling her obedience is more important than mortification.
29. casual reference: "one of my morning talks with Jesus"
30. Get to know God by his attributes, not in his Essence.
42. I don't understand this story about Jesus taking her heart when she went away.
44. Nor this about Jesus trying to leave the convent.
50. flames of divine mercy "clamoring to be spent"
55. "Act in such a way that all those who come in contact with you will go away joyful." Amazing! I read this a week or two ago and didn't remember it, but as I was praying about what kind of "almsgiving" to undertake during Lent, "Give joy" came to me.
"As waters flow from the mountains down into the valleys, so too do God's graces flow only into humble souls."
57. I love the image of sufferings as "splinters that keep alive the fire of my love for You, O Jesus."
60. another striking image: God looks through the wounds of Jesus when He views the earth
62. monotony? "The grace which is given me in this hour will not be repeated."

[Jill]

I just finished Notebook 1, not sure I'll continue, find it repetitious and hard to relate to. Is anyone else reading and wanting to comment?
I am bothered by her frequent references to the "divine wrath," as if God's wrath and mercy were at war and only fervent prayer can overcome that wrath/punishment.
68.She didn't like it, but saying the Te Deum seems to me like a perfect penance for her!
86, "I do not reward for good results but for the patience and hardship undergone for My sake."'
105 wise not to omit taking communion because of feelings of unworthiness
112. "There is nothing little in the spiritual life."
118. good commentary on "keeping silence," not the same as talking or not
135. What does it mean for her to "be sacrifice"?' her consecration in 309. is similarly opaque to me
138. "snuggled closely to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus"
145. I like the image of the noise of the cannon not inspiring terror in a good soldier but helping him know where the Enemy is so he can defeat him.
148. "sees God in everything, finds Him everywhere, and knows how to find Him in even the most hidden things. It finds all things important, it highly appreciates all things, it thanks God for all things, it draws profit for the soul from all things, and it gives all glory to God."
156. "Your minor faults will disappear in My love like a piece of straw thrown into a great furnace."
162. I don't understand this chart.
163 lovely prayer
165 "He who does not take advantage of small graces will not receive great ones."
182. (a flash of humor at last!)"Certain people have a special gift for vexing others."
249. seems curious to call Jesus her Mother
267. "He who wants to learn true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus."
283. "Each one can become a great saint, so great is the power of God's grace."
285. lovely example of serving a sister = serving Christ in Host
364. I know other saints have done this, but mortifications (wearing "chains") seem wrong to me
404. prayer isn't always the top priority: "I am very pleased that you had not been talking with Me, but were making My goodness known to souls and rousing them to love Me."
424. This contrast in value between religious and "faithful Christians" can't be right!
I find it interesting that when some fault in another person is revealed to her, she never reproves the person but only prays fervently for her.
476. This chaplet just seems to mechanical, almost magical. Do some of you pray it regularly?
477. commentary on silence: "We quickly want to answer back, without taking any regard as to whether it is God's will that we should speak." Ouch.
481. "faith child of the Church" learning to know God better on the occasion of every feast day
486. after receiving communion, "I try to make it easier for Jesus to pass through me to other souls."

[John]

I am reading. I hope some of the others who voted for it are also reading and planning to join in the discussion.

Though I also find her references to God's wrath confusing, I am trying to keep an open mind. I am finding it a blessing and will try to share some of the notes that I've been jotting down as I've been reading.

[John]

16. "From that moment I set up a little cell in my heart where I always kept company with Jesus."

Aren't we all called to do this? Such a simple, thought, really. One I'm sure I've heard in various formulations dozens of times over the years . . . but have never had the simplicity to just do.

[John]

Jill wrote: "I just finished Notebook 1, not sure I'll continue, find it repetitious and hard to relate to. Is anyone else reading and wanting to comment?"

It is repetitious and she is often not clear about when events take place, which adds to the confusion, but I recall her lack of education and am astonished at what she has produced.

[John]

20. "I asked these souls [in hell] what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God."

30. "Get to know God by contemplating His attributes."

35. "A confessor can help a soul a great deal, but he can also cause it a lot of harm."

61. [regarding spiritual direction] "It is so easy to go astray when one has no guide."

With respect to the last two, I think this is right, and I think spiritual direction is important, so why is it so hard to find a good spiritual director?

I am adding additional quotes regarding confession and spiritual direction here.

95. "the soul will respond more faithfully to divine grace if it has a well-informed confessor to whom it can confide everything."

113. "A soul does not benefit as it should from the sacrament of confession if it is not humble. Pride keeps it in darkness. The soul neither knows how, nor is it willing, to probe with precision the depths of its own misery. It puts on a mask and avoids everything that might bring it recovery."

[John]

I am using St. Faustina's practice of bolding the words she attributes to Jesus.

86. "I do not reward for good results, but for the patience and hardship undergone for my sake."

91. "Oh my Lord, I can see very well that from the time when my soul first received the capacity to know You, my life has been a continual struggle which has become increasingly intense."

92. "At those times when I suffer much, I try to remain silent, as I do not trust my tongue which, at such moments, is inclined to talk for itself, while its duty is to help me praise God for all the blessings and gifts which he has given me."

93. "To conquer interior temptations with the thought of the presence of God, and moreover to fight without fear."

117. "Let us beware of adding to the suffering of others. . . "

146. "A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat."

153. - Two roads.

[John]

Jill wrote: "163 lovely prayer"

I agree, I have adopted this as my morning prayer.

[John]

303. ". . . it is only love which lends value to our actions. And the purer our love becomes, the less there will be within us for the flames of suffering to feed on." I must admit that I don't understand the next paragraph in this section.

343. "I thank You, Jesus, You who first drank the cup of bitterness before you gave it to me. . . ."

373. "I love creatures insofar as they help me to become united with God. I love all people because I see the image of God in them."

[John]

Quotes on simplicity and becoming childlike:

331. "His omnipotence will be all the more manifest if the tool is poorer."

332. "He told me how much God is pleased with simplicity in a soul."

333. ". . . a child does not worry about the past or the future, but makes use of the present moment."

[John]

450. "Satan defeats only the proud and the cowardly, because the humble are strong."