Day 3: Devout and faithful souls

On the third day of the Divine Mercy Novena, the Lord turns to the souls of the devout and faithful in the Church: those who keep the practices of Catholic life, who frequent the sacraments, who pray daily, who have remained close to Him in the ordinary disciplines of grace. They are not exempt from the need for mercy; they too are brought into its fount today.

The Lord's words to Saint Faustina

"Today bring to Me all devout and faithful souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness." (Diary 1214)

The image of the devout faithful as the drop of consolation in the ocean of bitterness is one of the most tender in the Diary. The Lord tells Faustina that the small acts of fidelity, the prayers said in private, the masses attended despite weariness, the rosaries prayed when no one is watching, all of these were already present to His consciousness on the Via Crucis as drops of consolation.

Today's prayer (from Diary 1215)

Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Offer it today for the devout and faithful souls of the Church: for those who go to daily Mass, for those who keep First Fridays and First Saturdays, for those who pray the rosary as a family, for those who teach their children the faith in difficult cultural conditions, for the elderly faithful who have prayed for decades and are now nearing the end of their pilgrimage.

Reflection

The Lord Jesus does not regard fidelity as ordinary. "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:21). The small daily fidelities of the practicing Catholic are, in the eyes of the Lord, the most precious offerings the human heart makes to God. Day 3 of the novena is the Lord's own honoring of those small fidelities, and our prayer that they be sustained.

The petition for not failing in love or losing the treasure of the holy faith is significant. Catholic spiritual writers note that the devout faithful are not exempt from the trials of perseverance. The faithful soul, like every soul, can grow weary, can fall into routine, can drift, can lose the savor of the faith. The novena's third day is, in part, a prayer that the keeping of the faith would itself be kept.

If you have devout faithful in your life (a parent who taught you to pray, a spouse with whom you walk in the Catholic life, a parish community whose fidelity has held you up, a child who is being raised in the faith), name them today. Bring this person, with all the devout faithful of the Church, into the mercy of the Heart of Christ.

Closing prayers

Conclude with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.

Jesus, I trust in You.