Another interesting subject which surfaces in the Diary of St Faustina is certainly Christmas. For St Faustina, Christmas was a moment where she learned that joy can never be found away from the Lord. The following is her spiritual experience she had with Jesus:
Once, on Christmas Day [ 1928], I felt the omnipotence and the presence of God surrounding me. And once more I fled from this interior meeting with the Lord. I asked Mother Superior for permission to go to Jozefinek to visit the sisters there. The Superior gave us permission, and we started to get ready right after lunch. The other sisters were already waiting for me at the door of the convent while I ran to my cell to get my cloak. On my way back, as I was passing close to the little chapel, I saw Jesus standing in the doorway. He said to me, Go ahead, but I am taking your heart. Suddenly I felt that I had no heart in my chest. But the sisters were scolding me for lingering behind, saying that it was already getting late, so I quickly went along with them. But a sense of uneasiness troubled me, and a strange longing invaded my soul, though no one knew what was happening except God.
After we had been at Jozefinek for only a few minutes, I said to the sisters, “Let’s go back home.” The sisters asked for at least a moment’s rest, but my spirit could find no peace. I explained that we must return before dark; and in as much as we had quite a distance to go, we immediately returned home. When Mother Superior met us in the hallway she asked me, “Haven’t the sisters gone yet, or have they already returned?” I said that we had already returned because I did not want to be returning in the evening. I took off my cloak and immediately went to the little chapel. As soon as I entered Jesus said to me, Go to Mother Superior and tell her that you came back, not in order to reach home before dark, but because I had taken your heart. Even though this was very difficult for me, I went to the Superior, and I told her frankly the real reason why I had come back so soon, and I asked pardon of the Lord for everything that had displeased Him. And then Jesus filled me with great joy. I understood that apart from God there is no contentment anywhere (Diary, 41 and 42).
Christmas taught St Faustina the infinite greatness of Jesus in the Eucharist. In entry 182, Faustina recounts the subsequent experience:
Today I was closely united with the Mother of God. I relived her interior sentiments. In the evening, before the ceremony of the breaking of the wafer, I went into the chapel to break the wafer, in spirit, with my loved ones, and I asked the Mother of God for graces for them. My spirit was totally steeped in God. During the Midnight Mass [“Pasterka” or Shepherds’ Mass], I saw the Child Jesus in the Host, and my spirit was immersed in Him. Although He was a tiny Child, His majesty penetrated my soul. I was permeated to the depths of my being by this mystery, this great abasement on the part of God, this inconceivable emptying of Himself. These sentiments remained vividly alive in my soul all through the festive season. Oh, we shall never comprehend this great self-abasement on the part of God; the more I think of it, [unfinished thought] (Diary, 182).
The Mystery of Christmas also reminded St Faustina that she was Jesus’ personal dwelling place wherein his spirit rests. She recounts:
December 24, 1934. The Vigil of Christmas. During the morning Mass, I felt the closeness of God. Though I was hardly aware of it, my spirit was drowned in God. Suddenly, I heard these words: You are My delightful dwelling place; My Spirit rests in you. After these words, I felt the Lord looking into the depths of my heart; and seeing my misery, I humbled myself in spirit and admired the immense mercy of God, that the Most High Lord would approach such misery (Diary, 345).
Christmas Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was also a moment wherein St Faustina could intercede for the entire humanity and the souls in purgatory. She wrote:
From nine to ten o’clock I offered my adoration for my parents and my whole family. From ten to eleven, I offered it for the intention of my spiritual director, in the first place thanking God for granting me this great visible help here on earth, just as He had promised me, and I also asked God to grant him the necessary light so that he could get to know my soul and guide me according to God’s good pleasure. And from eleven to twelve I prayed for the Holy Church and the clergy, for sinners, for the missions and for our houses. I offered the indulgences for the souls in purgatory (Diary, 346).
During midnight Mass of 1934, St Faustina came to appreciate more and more the presence of Baby Jesus in the Eucharist. She presents to us the following witness:
Midnight Mass. As Holy Mass began, I immediately felt a great interior recollection; joy filled my soul. During the offertory, I saw Jesus on the altar, incomparably beautiful. The whole time the Infant kept looking at everyone, stretching out His little hands. During the elevation, the Child was not looking towards the chapel but up to heaven. After the elevation He looked at us again, but just for a short while, because He was broken up and eaten by the priest in the usual manner. His pinafore was now white. The next day I saw the same thing, and on the third day as well. It is difficult for me to express the joy of my soul. The vision was repeated at the three Masses in the same way as in the first ones (Diary, 347).
In the mystery of Christmas St Faustina could understand God’s unfathomable love for the entire human family. In entry 574 she recorded:
From early morning, my spirit was immersed in God. His presence pervaded my whole being. In the evening, before supper, I went to the chapel for a minute to share the wafer, at the feet of Jesus, with those who are far away and whom Jesus loves greatly and to whom I owe so much. Just as I was spiritually sharing the wafer with a certain person [probably Father Sopocko], I heard these words within me: His heart is for Me a heaven on earth. When I was leaving the chapel, in an instant, God’s omnipotence enveloped me. I understood how greatly God loves us. Oh, if people could at least partly comprehend and understand this! (Diary, 574).
On Christmas day of 1935, St Faustina learnt that Jesus resides in her heart not only in the moment of holy communion but in each and every moment of her. In entry 575 she wrote:
Midnight Mass. During Holy Mass, I again saw the little Infant Jesus, extremely beautiful, joyfully stretching out His little arms to me. After Holy Communion, I heard the words: I am always in your heart; not only when you receive Me in Holy Communion, but always. I spent these holydays in great joy (Diary, 575).
Christmas time led Faustina to great appreciate and contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation, when God has become man in the person of Jesus Christ. Two days before Christmas, these words were read in the refectory:
“Tomorrow is the Birth of Jesus Christ according to the flesh.” At these words, my soul was pierced by the light and love of God, and I gained deeper knowledge of the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. How great is the mercy of God contained in the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God! (Diary, 1433).
During Christmas of 1937, St Faustina had the grace of savouring the enormity of surrender to God’s will as Mary did exactly. Such a deep trust made Mary savour her experience of Motherhood of God’s Son and for St Faustina it was a point wherein she fully comprehended that she had to accept God’s will in everything she was and will go through. Thus, in entry 1437, St Faustina says:
+ Christmas Eve [1937]. After Holy Communion, the Mother of God gave me to experience the anxious concern she had in Her heart because of the Son of God. But this anxiety was permeated with such fragrance of abandonment to the will of God that I should call it ‘ rather a delight than an anxiety. I understood how my ‘ soul ought to accept the will of God in all things. It is a pity I cannot write this the way I experienced it. My soul was plunged in deep recollection all day long. Nothing could tear me away from this recollection, neither duties, nor the business I had with lay people (Diary, 1437).
Finally, for St Faustina Christmas was a time where she felt great spiritual support. In entry 1444 of her Diary she writes:
During this Christmas Season, I have sensed that certain souls have been praying for me. I rejoice that such spiritual union and knowledge exist already here on earth. O my Jesus, praise be to You for all this! (Diary, 1444).
In union with St Faustina and St John Paul II, the author of this prayer who prayed it for the first time at Christmas Mass in Rome in 2003, let us pray to the Holy Babe of Bethlehem:
O Child, who wished to have a manger for your cradle; O Creator of the universe, who have stripped yourself of divine glory; Ô Redeemer, who offered your vulnerable body as a sacrifice for the salvation of humanity!
May the splendor of your birth illuminate the night of the world. May the power of your message of love thwart the superb snares of the evil one. The gift of your life may make us understand more and more clearly the value of the life of every human being.
Too much blood is still shed on the earth! Too much violence and too many conflicts disturb the peaceful coexistence of nations!
You come to bring us peace. You are our peace! You alone can make of us a “purified people” which belongs to you forever, a people “zealous for good” (Tit 2,14).
Because a Child was born to us, a child was given to us! What an unfathomable mystery is hidden in the humility of this Child! We would like to we would like to hug him.
You, Mary, who watch over your almighty Son, give us your eyes to contemplate him with faith; give us your heart to adore it with love.
In his simplicity, the Child of Bethlehem teaches us to rediscover the true meaning of our existence; it teaches us “to live a sober, upright and devoted life in this world” (Tit 2,12)
O Holy Night, long awaited, which forever united God and man! Rekindle our hope. You fill us with ecstatic wonder. You assure us of the triumph of love over hatred, of life over death.
For this we remain absorbed in prayer.
In the luminous silence of your Nativity, you, Emanuele, continue to speak to us. And we are ready to listen to you. Amen!
