Based on the documentary about the original Divine Mercy painting shown on EWTN last night, there are "problems" with the paintings shown in your banner and in the Divine Mercy Shrine church. Jesus's gaze should be downward as if looking down from the cross, NOT looking forward at the observer. And, His right hand is raised too high above his shoulder. According to the documentary, when blessing, a priest should not raise his hand above the level of his shoulder. I noticed these errors in the image that they had at St. Joseph's in Macon too. The documentary stressed that although the graced received during the devotion did not depend on the image used, they preferred that the devotion be made using the original image of the Divine Mercy painting.
24 comments:
They're all awful and kitschy, which I suppose matches the fraudulent devotion fairly well.
And, just how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Hope you don’t feel the same about official approval of the BVM’s appearance to St. Dominic and handing him the Rosary, Fatima and Lourdes and others that made it into the EF Missal, even ore 1955.
As our Italian host knows, Michelangelo sculpted Moses with ‘horns’ to depict the almost unbearable radiance of the prophet’s countenance after emerging from the presence the Almighty with the decalogue. I wonder if this was an attempt at the same effect in the image of Our Lord?
Those are fine. This one is nonsense.
Having lived in Vilnius for a short time and gone to Mass and prayed the chaplet with the people in the church where this image was hung before I even knew it was the original image (this was before they moved it to the shrine, which was delayed because the devout parishioners blocked the way of it being removed I'm told) I always felt like it was a deeply personal reminder that mercy finds us, not the other way around. I didn't even know St Faustina lived in Vilnius.
Mercy for all of us is a deeply personal experience with the Lord and no two one's will be alike. But we all need it. Having grown up seeing the images without devotion I can see what Marc is saying. I'm an image snob and don't respond as well to the softer life like images of our Lord or saints. St. Faustina and her confessor both wept in disappointment when they saw it themselves. Jesus had to tell her the look of the image itself was not what was important. I suspect given her sincerity and devotion she would have spent her life doing nothing else but having image after image painted.
I think in the West since Vatican 2 misunderstanding reigns here we have gotten too iconoclastic again to understand the holiness that comes from the holy person imaged as Nicea 2 taught and not the thing itself. The orthodox belive the holy persons are closer to us then the thing itself and I think they are right but I will stand corrected. People are free to like or not like a style of art or icon. I live almost perpetually disappointed in liturgy and other holy things myself.
But that being said comments like above sound more akin to pharisees. In his own words Jesus says go and Learn the meaning of I desire mercy not sacrifice, so how can a devotion to mercy be false? Is the kyrie or the confietor a false part of Mass? And if St Faustina heard voices in her head and its all fake why not Lourdes, Guadeloupe and Fatima too. I guess if we don't need mercy the whole faith may as well be fake. Im sure Marc's intention is good and meant to be directed at some real evil, but mercy is too important to say things like this.
This is a good reminder to beg Jesus for mercy and thank and adore him for the mercy each of us has already received starting with our holy baptism. And to pray for others who are hurting and in need of his love and mercy and compassion on this beautiful feast.
Andrew from Nova Scotia
Regarding Sr Faustina's 'revelations' it's odd that her writings should have been placed on the Index by John XXIII in 1959 and yet authenticated by another 'sainted' pope who went on to canonize the authoress. Even odder that the same pope should have seen fit to commandeer Quasimodo Sunday or Dominica in Albis to promote what should have been left as a local cult for a few hundred years at least.
According to one of her experiences, Hosts flew out of the tabernacle and she caught them. This probably makes her the patron saint of Communion in the hand (or of slip-fielders, not that the Poles are over-keen on cricket).
And yes, kitsch doesn't begin to describe the pictures, nor the endless and sentimental dirge which usually accompanies the devotions, if EWTN is anything to go by.
Just got a message from our priest. He was in a car wreck and is hospitalized; surgery tomorrow. He ended his message with the reminder to finish the prayers for Divine Mercy to gain a plenary indulgence. He has been scheduling private confessions the last few weeks to help. I request the prayers of readers here for his full recovery and protection from ancillary infection while in the hospital.
Bee here:
Don't know if the documentary mentioned it, but St. Faustina was never satisfied that the painting commissioned (the original) was an accurate depiction of what she saw. It's said the painter, who was an atheist, got extremely aggravated at her because no matter what changes he made to the painting she was never satisfied.
I like the original best.
By the way, if you wish to receive it, there is a Great Grace attached to the Divine Mercy today. It is essentially a plenary indulgence without the condition of "detachment from sin." Fr. Michael Gaitley of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception did a short (20 min) video about receiving the Great Grace which spells out everything. He also mentions the ability to ask for a grace for loved ones, and mentions asking for conversion and healing of his own father, which was granted. I highly recommend it.
You can view the video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqwTTvLgqH0
God bless.
Bee
i like them both. I find it humorous that a lot of trads hate the Divine Mercy and the liberal parish that I go to -- even during the reign of the Mercy Pope -- generally ignores it. It was only at a local FSSP parish did I witness the image displayed by the altar and the pastor devoted his homily to Divine Mercy, mostly by reading excerpts from the book. I know that Jesus and the Pope said this Sunday should be devoted to the topic, but apparently that's not enough authority to knock people off of their normal celebration of Low Sunday or the normal celebration of Social Justice Sunday.
rcg, so sorry! Praying now. May God grant your priest full protection and healing according to His Holy Will!
John Nolan,
I am with you on this one.
Jesu, Ufam Tobie!
I don't know anything about 'Social Justice Sunday' but 'Divine Mercy Sunday' seems another of those 'themed' Sundays which crop up throughout the year and are unconnected with the liturgy. Low Sunday is properly celebrated with its Mass and Office. There is no Mass or Office attached to what devotees erroneously call the 'Feast of the Divine Mercy.'
From what I have read, Ottaviani and the Holy Office had good reason to be wary of the writings of Faustina and her spiritual director Fr Sopocko, a professor of pastoral theology at the university in Vilnius. She appears to lack the humility normally found in saints and mystics; in fact there are signs of egomania. Are we really expected to believe that Jesus told her that he exalted her above all other creatures (presumably including his own Blessed Mother)?
The idea of a plenary indulgence without 'detachment from sin' is dubious, to say the least, and can engender a false sense of security. Presumption of God's mercy is one of the sins against the Holy Ghost, and I hope that Faustina herself wasn't guilty of it.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart (which the Divine Mercy cult seems to replicate if not replace) was around for nearly two centuries before it was extended to the Universal Church by Pius IX, and its present Mass and Office were written by Pius XI in 1929. St Margaret Mary died in 1690 but was only canonized in 1920.
I don't 'hate' the DMD, and if people derive spiritual benefit from it, well and good. But I can't in all conscience subscribe to it.
I am not beholden to any of them....nor to much from visionaries, period.
Contemplatives are another matter, the ones who say, "that's nice, but what really matters is returning God's love for us, and you visions are distracting me from the really important thing, choosing the best part."
In my opinion, most Catholics would be far better off concentrating on choosing the best part, rather than obsessing over what visions by visionaries and their meanings, as if some Captain Cody Secret Decoder Ring for fortune telling...and especially distracting is suchlike worrying over details in a painting inspired by a vision of a visionary.
However, THIS feast is certainly a good one, calling to mind that ocean of mercy available if we only choose that best part and turn away from all that is not. Anything which inflames love of God is a good starting point, allowing us to pursue that best part, as even, or especially, love needs exercise to stay strong, the point of all devotionals...
but they are not ends, but means, and that point is so often lost. Not even the sacraments can be fully effective without that attentive love we name "prayer".
I think I prefer the original, but I also think I would prefer the image crafted by an iconogapher trained in the Eastern and Orthodox (including Ethiopian) tradition rather than an artist trained in Western European art. I also think Divine Mercy Sunday might be better as a personal (or separate) devotion rather than a Sunday “theme” Mass.
Anon 11:03
I Googled "Divine Mercy Icon." Under "images" there are several that have been rendered in icon style. Only one seems to have been influenced by the Ethiopian style.
John Nolan,
How silly of you! When you have the opportunity for grace, do not waste it! Grace is love, and opportunity extended to you.
Over the years, John, you have made many well thought out comments on this blog, but these are not among your best.
James Ignatius McAuley
I am continually surprised that those who subscribe to this (very recent) cult assume that those who do not are rejecting divine grace. Was Cardinal Ottaviani denying himself divine grace? Was John XXIII?
As Catholics we are not required to give credence to private revelations. In fact, we may (with very good reasons) hold to the opinion that Sr Faustina was a mentally disturbed young woman, was manipulated by Fr Sopocko who was an academic theologian whereas she was barely literate, and that the messages supposedly from Our Lord himself were in part delusional, in part self-serving, and quite possibly demonic.
Bee here:
John Nolan: I wholly respect your opinion, because your comments always reveal a deep and accurate knowledge of the Catholic Church and it's history, traditions and theology. Because of that, what you have written about St. Faustina has certainly given me pause, because I know you never speak superficially or carelessly about any matter with regards to faith and tradition.
For the past several days I have been pondering your comments, disturbed that maybe St. Faustina is a fraud, and I have been duped into putting my confidence into what she has written and recommends.
I have read St. Faustina's book, "Divine Mercy in My Soul" at least 4 times, maybe 5. In all the times I have read it I never once thought the woman was mentally unbalanced, or that she was listening to a demonic spirit, or was perhaps manipulated by Fr. Sopocko. Of course, I cannot know. Obviously the demon is very adept at appearing as an angel of light. But not once in my reading have I ever gotten a familiar discomfort I often get when I read something that maybe not in line with Catholic doctrine.
For instance, I have problems with almost all of Anne Catherine Emmerich's writings, all of Maria Valtorta's writings, and even with some of what St. Catherine of Sienna has written. I totally disbelieve Garabandal and have big doubts about LaSalette, but think both Fatima and Lourdes are credible. Always, if I read something that seems not quite right to me, I put it aside and dismiss it. But I have not sensed such a thing with St. Faustina's writings.
I realize that private revelations are optional: if they are accepted by the Church they can be accepted or rejected by the faithful. I thank you for at least presenting another side to the wholesale acceptance of the devotions to Divine Mercy, a side which I have never heard (except knowing her work was suppressed until Cardinal Wojtyla opened the informative process of her life and virtues supposedly encouraged by Cardinal Ottaviani.) I'll continue to pray for guidance to the Holy Spirit on this matter, and perhaps God will make it clear to me as to the veracity of her claims.
God bless.
Bee
Bee
I was to a certain extent playing devil's advocate - a role in the canonization process unfortunately done away with by JP II, whose 'saint factory' surely constituted an abuse and led to the absurd situation whereby he and two of his immediate predecessors are formally canonized. Although I have reservations about the DMD I was trying to suggest that extreme scepticism is not contrary to faith or reason.
For a reasoned critique, see catholictruthblog.com/2014/04/24/is-the-divine-mercy-devotion-catholic/
I went to the link you provided and read it the article. I also read the comments section and I have to say that my thinking is more in line with the comments of Daniel, Tom, and Andrea. What Saint Faustina wrote is private revelation and therefore not required for a Catholic to believe(outside of those things which reference Catholic teaching). She does write of the reality of hell and of a vision she had of seeing many souls going there and she also writes of the need for confession.
Bee here:
Thank you, John Nolan. Even in your critiques you are very kind.
God bless.
Bee
Bee
Thank you. For reasons which no doubt go back to my early childhood I have never had much time for popular devotions - miraculous medals, brown scapulars, even to a certain extent the Rosary. An exception would be devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, which has a strong liturgical dimension.
That Faustina was canonized 62 years after her death is not in itself remarkable; St Theresa of Lisieux was canonized after only 27 years, as was St Philip Neri. So I suppose I can give JP II a pass on this one.
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