Saint Faustina, Exemplar spiritual mother for priests
This is a concise teaching on spiritual motherhood by Jesus himself. We see here Jesus' great desire for it as he entrusts the priests and religious not only St. Faustina but also her companions.
"I went at once before the Blessed Sacrament and offered myself with Jesus, present in the Most Holy Sacrament, to the Everlasting Father. Then I heard these words in my soul: Your purpose and that of your companions is to unite yourselves with Me as closely as possible; through love you will reconcile earth with heaven, you will soften the just anger of God, and you will plead for mercy for the world. I place in your care two pearls very precious to My Heart: these are the souls of priests and religious. You will pray particularly for them; their power will come from your diminishment. You will join prayers, fasts, mortifications, labors and all sufferings to My prayer, fasting, mortifications, labors and sufferings and then they will have power before My Father." -Diary #531. November 24, 1935
Above, Jesus teaches spiritual Motherhood's
-Foundation: that you "unite yourselves with Me as closely as possible"
-Method: "your diminishment. You will join prayers, fasts, mortifications, labors and all sufferings to My prayer...
-Goal: They will have power before My Father.
Saint Faustina´s profound and pure love for her confessor made her attentive to his spiritual needs. She felt his suffering and pleaded with the Lord in his behalf:
Once when I saw how much my confessor was to suffer because of this work [spreading the devotion to the Divine Mercy] which God was going to carry out through him, fear seized me for the moment, and I said to the Lord, "Jesus, this is Your affair, so why are You acting this way toward him? It seems to me that You are making difficulties for him while at the same time ordering him to act."
(Jesus responds) Write that by day and night My gaze is fixed upon him, and I permit these adversities in order to increase his merit. I do not reward for good results but for the patience and hardship undergone for My sake. (Diary # 86)
One day I saw interiorly how much my confessor would have to suffer: friends will desert you while everyone will rise up against you and your physical strength will diminish. I saw you as a bunch of grapes chosen by the Lord and thrown into the press of suffering. Your soul, Father, will at times be filled with doubts about this work and about me. I saw that God himself seemed to be opposing and I asked the Lord why He was acting this way toward him, as though He were placing obstacles in the way of his doing what He himself had asked him to do. And the Lord said, I am acting thus with him to give testimony that this work is Mine. Tell him not to fear anything; My gaze is on him day and night. There will be so many crowns to form his crown as there will be souls saved by this work. It is not for the success of a work but for the suffering that I give reward. (Diary # 90)
