Fall is in the air as October nears. Leaves changing colors, cooler temperatures, and football season are all things to be excited about in the fall.
October also brings a packed liturgical calendar with many powerhouse saints.
In the first week of October alone, the Church celebrates St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Holy Guardian Angels, St. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary!
Later in October, other feast days include St. Teresa of Avila, St. Luke, the North American Martyrs, and Sts. Simon and Jude.
All very worthy of celebration and devotion to drawing hope and encouragement for our own apostolic endeavors.
Three more saints, with October feast days, reveal a particular theme.
Their lives overlapped very little in time, but their spiritual connections are significant.
The lives of St. Faustina (October 5), Pope St. John XXIII (October 11), and Pope St. John Paul II (October 22) all witness to the need for mercy in our modern era.
What can we draw from these three great Saints to make October a Month of Mercy?
St. Faustina
St. Faustina entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on August 1, 1925.
Exteriorly her life appeared to be no different than the other Sisters in the Congregation. She worked as a cook, gardener, and porter. She prayed frequently with her Sisters and on her own.
Interiorly, a profound mystical relationship with Jesus was unfolding. Jesus appeared to Faustina and commissioned her as his secretary and apostle of his mercy.
Jesus expressed Faunstina’s mission and his desire with these words, “I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1588).
Fulfilling the mission entrusted to her, the life of St. Faustina has given the Church multiple treasures to make Divine Mercy accessible to every human heart.
These treasures include the Divine Mercy image of Jesus, Divine Mercy Sunday, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and The Diary of Saint Faustina, in which we encounter Jesus’ message of mercy.
Pope St. John XXIII
Fast forward from the death of St. Faustina on October 5, 1938, to October 11, 1962.
Pope John XXIII had surprised the world by calling for the Second Vatican Council.
The majority of ecumenical councils to that point in history had focused on clarifying heretical teachings, excommunicating heretics, and defining doctrine.
The Church of the 1950s and early 1960s was flourishing. There were no major crises to address and correct.
Yet, as he responded to the Holy Spirit, Pope John XXIII saw a great need to focus the Church on her mission in the modern world.
On October 11, 1962, Pope John XXIII gave the opening address of Vatican II.
In this address, he noted the Church has always opposed errors regarding the faith with “great severity.”
Reading the signs of the time in the modern world, John XXIII then said, “Nowadays, however, the spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than of severity.”
We have the profound joy of frequently receiving the medicine of mercy from the Church and being sent to bring that mercy to the world. Each one of us is called to be an instrument of God’s mercy to the modern world.
Pope St. John Paul II
In the year 1978, Pope John Paul II became the third Pope in a single year following the deaths of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I’s deaths.
Earlier in his life, as a young man, Pope John Paul II experienced many close encounters with death during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
On numerous occasions, it was in the very same chapel that St. Faustina prayed and where the image of Divine Mercy hung that John Paul II sought the Lord’s peace and guidance.
At the bottom of the image of Divine Mercy, it says “Jesus, I trust in you.”
This simple, yet deeply profound prayer took root in the heart of John Paul II.
Later, he became known as “the Great Mercy Pope.” Throughout his pontificate, he frequently spoke and wrote about Divine Mercy.
On the same day that he canonized St. Faustina, he also established the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday.
In 1997, at the Shrine of Divine Mercy, John Paul II said, “There is nothing more man needs than Divine Mercy — that love which is benevolent, which is compassionate, which raises man above his weakness to the infinite heights to the holiness of God.” John Paul II saw Divine Mercy as the answer to the problems of modern man.
St. Faustina, Pope St. John XXIII, and Pope St. John Paul II all witness to the necessity of Divine Mercy.
As we celebrate their feast days throughout the month of October, may we avail ourselves to receive God’s mercy.
The Sacrament of Confession is readily available.
This privileged place of encountering Jesus’ Mercy brings freedom to allow us to be vessels of the Mercy we have received. John Paul II said, “Be apostles of Divine Mercy under the maternal and loving guidance of Mary.”
May our Mother Mary lead us to the merciful heart of Jesus so we can be instruments of mercy in the world.
Sarah Pandl is a member of St. Christopher Parish in Verona. She works for The Evangelical Catholic and loves living in tune with the liturgical calendar of the Church.