A Review of the Divine Mercy
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
Looking at the 88-page booklet (not counting the cover of the tract-sized publication) is like reading a foreign language. Usually a blurb like the one on the back cover tries to whet the appetite of the reader, but this one just creates confusion. It says that it is a very “popular booklet,” and its full title is The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion. It claims to have “introduced hundreds of thousands of souls to the life-changing message of mercy,” covering “every aspect of the message and devotion—from the Feast and the Hour of Great Mercy to the Chaplet and Novena.” As if this promise were not enough, it also includes “selected prayers from the Diary of St. Faustina.” Is that exciting or what?
The first thought that comes to mind is: “What does all this verbiage mean?” Especially does anyone familiar with the Scriptures ask such a question. The Bible has introduced the whole world to the message of mercy; so, what is this booklet teaching that is different from the Word of God?
In the Old Testament, Israel was charged with observing several feasts annually (see Leviticus 23). But none of them was named “the Feast and the Hour of Mercy.” Furthermore, there is nothing in the New Testament that even mentions such a thing, let alone defines it. Most people are probably wondering what a Chaplet and a Novena are, since they likewise are never mentioned in any manner in the Bible.
Who is St. Faustina? The Bible mentions several women who were godly servants, but no one by that name appears in either covenant. This language and terminology is totally foreign to that in the Bible that one wonders if this might be a tract put out by Buddhists—except that the front cover says, “Jesus, I Trust in You!” But if this is supposed to be something related to Christianity, where did all these vocabulary words come from? It’s a popular booklet, it claims, but with whom?
To read something like this publication that apparently is supposed to be in conjunction with the Bible is like being invited to play a game of Monopoly with properties no one has ever heard of. When the board is unfolded, it is twice the amount of space of the normal board. Four railroads / subways have been added: the Atcheson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe is one, followed by the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the Rock Island Line, and the MTA. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” you say to yourself. You are given three dice to roll, and on your first turn you land on a black property. “What is that?” you ask. “Oh, that’s South Street,” you are told. “I don’t think I want it,” you decide, but all the other players just laugh. “Silly, you know that you don’t have a choice when you land on a black property. That’ll be $350.”
“Wait a minute,” you protest. There must be at least twelve of these on the board. How many of them do you need to have to build hotels?” Everyone at the table roars. “You’re kidding, right? These are already hotels. If you get three of them anywhere on the board, you become a slum lord. Then, when someone lands on that property, you have to pay a fine of $1,000. I thought you had played Monopoly before.”
“Well, I have, but I guess I never played this version before.” “Oh, it’s a lot of fun, but watch out. If you draw the Slum Lord, Go To Jail Card, you don’t get out for five turns, and you still have to pay the fine to anyone who lands on one of your properties.” On your second turn, you draw a card that says, “Advance token to the Rock Island Line. If you go past GO, collect $500.” “I’m glad about this change,” you say to yourself, but the euphoria is short-lived because on the very next turn you land on the space marked Green Energy Tax. You lose the $500 you just gained and $200 more. One of the spots an opponent lands on is called, “Player’s Option.” It’s a scarlet set of cards, and the top one says, “Make up a new rule for the game.”
He says, “The new rule is that every time you go past Go, you have to pay your $500 to me.” Other cards in the pile say such things as, “The previous rule made by a player is hereby revoked” and, “You may alter one of the original rules of the game.” It does not take long until you begin to think, “This is not the game of Monopoly as originally designed and marketed.”
Spiritually Speaking
In effect, this is what the Roman Catholic Church has done by adding Chaplets, Novenas, rosary beads, and a host of other things that are not in the Bible. Then they remove one of the Ten Commandments—presumably because idolatry is too close to home. The publication under review was mostly written by Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC. MIC could stand for Military Industrial Complex, Motorcycle Industry Council, Made in Chelsea, or a Chinese Boy Band. But in this instance it stands for Marians of the Immaculate Conception, which (of course) makes total sense.
Not surprisingly, it was then published by Marian Press in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 2011. And it carries the IMPRIMATUR of Joseph F. Maguire, who is Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts. There is a “NIHIL OBSTAT” (“Nothing hinders”) by a former Archbishop. Now these two pronouncements mean that this booklet is to be considered “free from doctrinal and moral error” (2). Okay, but then the very next sentence states that it “is not implied” that the men who issued those two guarantees agree with the contents in this pamphlet! How’s that, again? The contents are doctrinally correct and morally right, but these two stamps of approval do not mean that those who are vouching for the contents actually agree with what is said? Does that disclaimer make any sense to anyone?
If it is doctrinally correct, how could anyone not agree with it? If it is morally correct, how could anything in the booklet be wrong? What if Paul said, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and I’m putting my imprimatur on it, but that does not mean I agree with everything in the Scriptures?” Wouldn’t we all say, “Wait! What don’t you agree with, and why?” So what we have in this Divine Mercy pamphlet is a work proudly endorsed by the Catholic Church—sort of.
The Lord Told Me….
Because this pamphlet has a strict policy on reproducing any part of it without permission, the safest thing to do is to select brief quotes and just summarize parts of it. Several pages are devoted to the rise and tribulations of Helen Kowalska—to her beatification and canonization as St. Faustina. But there’s more. According to this booklet, she was chosen by the Lord “as the Apostle and Secretary of His mercy” (15). Really? Furthermore, it is claimed that the Lord even commanded her to write down all of His wishes in a diary. And what evidence is presented for this amazing honor? None. When Saul of Tarsus was selected to be an apostle, he presented proof.
How does anyone today evaluate claims that God has spoken to them? We do so in the same ways that people of other ages did so. In Moses’ time, the people had two tests. The first involved their prophesies that did not come to pass (Deut. 18:20-22), then they knew the person was a false prophet. The second was, even if a sign came to pass, if the message took them away from the already-revealed Word of God, then that person was to be put to death (Deut. 13:1-5). Jesus and the apostles performed signs, wonders, and miracles—not one or two—but many. Because of these, people believed (John 3:2; 20:30-31; 2 Cor. 12:12).
The same requirements would be needed today. How many people claim that God spoke to them today? How many visions and dreams have people mentioned? But many of these are subjective—with no objective means to test them. However, we know that no miracles have been performed and verified, as in Jesus’ day. As dedicated, however, as Helen Kowalska may have been (her sincerity is not the issue), we are confident that God never spoke with her. If He had, He would have told her that the Catholic Church is an apostate religion and that she should leave it and worship Him in spirit and in truth.
She is not unlike many others. Ellen G. White was told by God (she says) that all of Christendom is worshipping on the wrong day of the week. It should be on the Sabbath day, she proclaimed. And what are we to do with the claims of Joseph Smith concerning the Book of Mormon? He can’t help it if all the evidence disappeared. But all of these have taught false doctrines that have either led people away from the truths taught in the New Testament—or kept them away. But there is something else.
The New Testament clearly teaches that God has revealed to us everything that we need to know (2 Peter 1:3; Jude 3). He has nothing further to reveal. All of these people having these so-called revelations do not know the Bible well enough to know that God already gave us all things pertaining to life and godliness. If they do know them, they must ignore them and hope that no one else knows these passages, either. In addition, Paul teaches that the miracles would cease when all of God’s will had been revealed (1 Cor. 13), which it has. Therefore, no one has any evidence to offer that a modern message is from God.
Someone is always claiming to have received a new doctrine or a new message from God. Then that individual quotes Scripture to show that what the Lord has revealed to them is not heresy. But if the latter-day, Divinely inspired message can be found in the New Testament, then it is not new. It is the same truth that we have known all along. The very idea that Jesus needs a Secretary of Mercy is ludicrous. Mercy is a Biblical doctrine taught in both the Old and New Testaments. Anyone can turn to the verses where they are recorded and read them. How sad to think we need a special apostle to call attention to it.
Mother of Mercy?
According to the Catholic Church, Mary possesses a better understanding of mercy than anyone else (43). This claim has no Biblical proof whatsoever. God as the Creator knew all about mercy before He created Adam and Eve—before Mary was ever born. To state that a mere human being has a greater concept of mercy than God does denigrates the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In her diary, Helen averred that Mary was always instructing her in mercy. This is nothing more than what she felt or thought.
She also had a vision of Jesus, she says, and He told her to paint it and what it meant (46-47). The booklet never attempts to offer any proof of anything. Jesus commissioned her to tell the whole world of His Divine mercy—but the Bible already does that. She also claimed that the Lord taught her Catholic propaganda—that if people would go to Confession and receive the Holy Communion, they would be completely forgiven of their sins (48). The New Testament does not teach anything about going to Confession. What the inspired apostle John wrote was that, if the Christian confessed His sins (to the Father), He was faithful and just to forgive them. The Catholic practice of Confession lacks Biblical authority.
The Feast of Mercy (she said that Jesus told her) was to be observed the first Sunday after Easter. Jesus did not command either observance to His followers in the New Testament—nor did the apostles. In 2000, John Paul II made the official announcement that this day would be called, henceforth, “Divine Mercy Sunday.” What’s next—Living Hope Sunday? Who knows what individual might be commissioned to remind people that Jesus is our living hope (1 Peter 1:3-5). Who knows what other Biblical concepts that someone will discover and find a special day for? We can probably anticipate such special times as “Good Samaritan Sunday,” “the Feast of Unlimited Love,” and “Grace Takes Care of Everything Day.”
The Chaplet refers to an addition to a prayer already being said that Helen heard one day when entering a chapel. She was told that when she asked for mercy for herself, she should add the words, and on the whole world (56). What a remarkable change! Saying these words is so powerful that even hardened sinners can receive some mercy from God when they utter them (57). Helen was told to utter those extra words every day for 9 days prior to the Feast of Mercy, concentrating on certain categories of people each one of those days, such as those who do not believe in God (64), those who have fallen away (65), the souls of those who had become lukewarm (70), and the souls of those who are in Purgatory (69). The prayer is to call for Jesus’ blood to “cool down their scorching flames.” Well, there’s yet another teaching that cannot be found in the Bible. No place such as purgatory exists. One will either be punished as the rich man or rewarded as Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Had Jesus actually spoken to Helen, He would have taught the truth.
More Errors
Some of the prayers from Helen’s diary are quite fervent, but they are misdirected to Jesus or to Mary. Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father (Matt. 6:9).
“Jesus Himself encouraged St. Faustina to remember the souls in purgatory” (78). Jesus did no such thing because He Himself taught the truth concerning the afterlife, and He did not include a place such as purgatory. In all of His teachings about what follows death, He consistently listed two—and only two—options: “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). No “in between” place exists because Jesus’ blood was powerful enough to cleanse us from all sins—not just some of them. Notice the use of the word all in 1 John 1:7.
Helen prays to Mary that she cover her with her “virginal mantle” (whatever that means) and that she grant her purity of heart, soul, and body (87). While it is entirely appropriate to pray for complete purity, it is wholly inappropriate to make such a petition of Mary. No verse of Scripture gives any such power to any human being. Enoch was the seventh from Adam, and he walked with God for 300 years. He did not endure death because God took him. Yet as godly as Enoch was, he is not answering anyone’s prayers, either—because neither he nor Mary are God, nor do they have the power to answer prayers. No human being (Jesus being excepted since He was God in the flesh) has ever answered the prayers of anyone on earth or after departing from this world.
Even on the inside of the back cover, the reader finds a prayer that may be addressed to Saint Faustina. She also has been entrusted to intercede for those on earth and to help them with their problems. Of course, such a motion is thoroughly false. Neither Peter nor Paul ever told anyone they could pray to them once they left this world. Where does this doctrine come from? It cannot be found in the New Testament. Apparently, however, Helen promised in her diary that her ministry would continue even after her death and that she would not forget those she left behind. Sigh.
Conclusion
The sad thing is that many people have no inkling of what the Bible teaches. In the past two years, this writer has studied with two individuals who were raised Catholic. Although the comment was unsolicited, both let it be known that they had never read the Bible or ever been encouraged to do so. Thus, many poor souls might read through a booklet like this one and think they have read the truth. They may not ask for any proof. They may not have ever read Matthew 7:15 or suspected that false doctrine even exists. So many are blithely willing to take anyone’s word for anything, instead of acting as the Bereans did—searching the Scriptures daily to see if they have been taught the truth. May we all do whatever we can to get people into the Word. Jesus has the words of eternal life (John 6:68), and they are recorded in God’s Book.