Hello, I'm Father Joe Roche of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

Thank you for joining us as we continue with our year-long journey,

reading the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Cavalska, from beginning to end.

Today we take up from where we left off, beginning with diary entry number 4.55.

When some suffering afflicts me, it no longer causes me any bitterness,

nor do great consolations carry me away. I am filled with the peace and equanimity that

flow from the knowledge of the truth. How can living surrounded by unfriendly hearts do me any harm when I enjoy full happiness within my soul?

Or how can having kind hearts around me help me when I do not have God within me?

When God dwells within me, who can harm me?

Jesus Mary and Joseph Vilnius August 12, 1935, three-day retreat. On the evening of the introductory

day of the retreat, as I listened to the points of the meditation,

I heard these words. During this retreat, I will speak to you through the mouth of this priest,

to strengthen you and assure you of the truths of the words which I addressed to you in the depths of your soul.

Although this is a retreat for all the sisters, I have you especially in mind, as I want

to strengthen you and make you fearless in the midst of all the adversities which lie

ahead.

Therefore, listen intently to his words and meditate upon them in the depths of your soul.

Oh, how astonished I was, for everything the Father said about union with God and the

obstacles to this union I had experienced literally in my soul, and heard from Jesus, who speaks to me in the depths of my soul.

Perfection consists in this close union with God.

During the 10 o'clock meditation, Father Ritchkovsky spoke about divine mercy and about God's goodness to us.

He said that as we review the history of mankind, we can see this great goodness of God at every step.

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