St Faustina’s Encounters with the Angels

Our worship and adoration must be reserved for God alone but we can venerate the angels and saints. Angels don’t draw attention to themselves. They are invisible and want to draw our attention to Jesus. They say compliments to God in their names: Saint Michael means “Who is like God”, Saint Raphael signifies “God heals”, Saint Gabriel means “strength of God.” Always God. God is in the centre.

There are over seventy places in the Diary of St Faustina where the angels are mentioned. She was aware of the presence of the angels and thankful to God for them.

She wrote in the Diary: "In my communing with the angels I thanked God for His goodness, that He gives us angels for companions. Oh, how little people reflect on the fact that they always have beside them such a guest and at the same time a witness to everything" (Diary, 1200). She kept in mind that the angels stand in front of God and praise Him. That is why she added her prayer to the prayer of the angels, especially the prayer of praise. "O eternal God with the angels I sing to You: Holy. I live for your glory alone" (Diary, 1231). "I offer you O Lord all the adoration and thanksgiving of the saints and of all the choirs of angels and I unite myself in a special way with your Mother" (Diary, 220). To follow the example of Saint Faustina we should ask the angels to support us in our prayer. We often feel distracted in the morning, in the evening or before Holy Mass. That is why we may ask them for their help in our prayer. They will be with us, help us to concentrate and they will carry our prayers to God.

Saint Faustina wrote in the Diary a beautiful sentence about the angels and the Eucharist: "If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us two things: one is receiving Holy Communion and the other is suffering" (Diary, 1804).

As a religious sister she would go daily to church for the Mass and Holy Communion. But during her stay in the hospital in Cracow in 1936, she became weak and wasn’t able to go to the chapel. And what happened? The angel brought her Holy Communion:

In the evening, the sisters who were to look after me came and said ‘Tomorrow you will not receive the Lord, because you are very tired.’ Faustina wrote: "This hurt me very much but I said with great calmness, ‘Very well’, and resigning myself totally to the will of the Lord. In the morning I made my meditation and prepared for Holy Communion even though I was not to receive the Lord Jesus. When my love and desire had reached a high degree, I saw at my bedside a Seraph who gave me Holy Communion, saying these words ‘Behold the Lord of Angels.’ This was repeated for thirteen days. The Seraph was surrounded by a great light, the divinity and love of God being reflected in him. He wore a golden robe and over it, a transparent surplice and a transparent stole. The chalice was crystal, covered with a transparent veil. As soon as he gave me the Lord, he disappeared" (Diary, 1676).

The angel gave her Holy Communion but he didn’t hear her confession: "Once, when a certain doubt rose within me shortly before the Holy Communion, I said to the Seraph: ‘Could you perhaps hear my confession?’ And he answered me ‘No spirit in heaven has that power’" (Diary, 1677). We all know very well that only the priests have such a power.

Saint Faustina had a very intimate relationship with her guardian angel. She saw him at her side in many circumstances of her life. She saw him praying and contemplating. "When we took our seats on the train from Warsaw to Cracow, once again I saw my Guardian Angel at my side. He was absorbed in prayer and in contemplating God and I followed him with my thoughts. The next morning I saw my guardian angel, who accompanied me throughout the journey as far as Warsaw. He disappeared when we entered the convent gate" (Diary, 490).

She described the differences between the angels whom she saw: "Then I saw one of the seven spirits near me, radiant as at other times, under a form of light. I constantly saw him beside me when I was riding on the train. I saw an angel standing on every church we passed, but surrounded by a light which was paler than that of the spirit accompanying me on the journey, and each of these spirits who were guarding the churches bowed his head to the spirit who was near me" (Diary, 630).

There are some places in the Diary where St Faustina’s guardian angel asked her for prayer, especially for the dying. "My guardian angel told me to pray for a certain soul and in the morning I learned that it was a man whose agony had begun that very moment. The Lord Jesus makes it known to me in a special way when someone is in need of my prayer. I especially know when my prayer is needed by a dying soul. This happens more often now than it did in the past" (Diary, 820).

"When I went to the garden one afternoon, my guardian angel said to me ‘Pray for the dying’ and so I began at once to pray the rosary with the gardeners for the dying. After the rosary, we said various prayers for the dying. After the prayers, the workers began to chat among themselves. In spite of the noise they were making themselves, I heard these words in my soul: ‘Pray for me’ but as I could not understand these words very well, I moved a few steps away from the wards, trying to think who it could be who was asking me to pray for them. Then I heard the words: ‘I am Sister...’ This sister was in Warsaw while I was, at the time, in Vilnus. ‘Pray for me until I tell you to stop, I am dying.’ Immediately, I began to pray fervently for her. I kept praying from three o’clock until five. At five I heard the words ‘Thank you’ and I understood that she had died" (Diary, 314).

St Faustina wrote about her experiences when the angels defended her during the Devil’s attacks: "I fell asleep as soon as I lay down, but at about eleven o’clock Satan shook my bed. I awoke instantly and I started to pray peacefully to my guardian angel. (...) I kept praying the rosary all the while and toward dawn these beings vanished and I was able to get some sleep. When I entered the chapel in the morning I heard a voice in my soul. ‘You are united to Me, fear nothing. But know, my child, that Satan hates you, he hates every soul, but he burns with a particular hatred for you because you have snatched so many souls from his dominion’" (Diary, 412).

"Seeing their great hatred for me, I immediately asked my guardian angel for help, and at once the bright and radiant figure of my guardian angel appeared and said to me: ‘Do not fear, spouse of my Lord, without His permission these spirits will do you no harm.’ Immediately the evil spirits vanished and the faithful guardian angel accompanied me, in a visible manner, right to the very house. His look was modest and peaceful and a flame of fire sparkled from his forehead" (Diary, 419).

The most brilliant of the angels mentioned in the Bible is St Michael. The Holy Church gives to him the highest place amongst the angels. She refers to him as “Prince of the heavenly hosts”. He is considered to be the guardian angel of Jesus Christ. Saint Michael was the protector and defender of God’s chosen people. Now he is the defender of the Church.

We know from the Diary that Saint Michael was the defender of Saint Sister Faustina. She described her experience in the following words: "On the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, I saw by my side that great leader, who spoke these words to me: ‘The Lord has ordered me to take special care of you. Know that you are hated by evil; but do not fear – Who is like God.’ And he disappeared. But I feel his presence and assistance" (Diary, 706).

In another moment of her life she confessed: "I have great reverence for Saint Michael the Archangel, he had no example to follow in doing the will of God, and yet he fulfilled God’s will faithfully" (Diary, 667).

St Faustina had visions and apparitions of the angels. But we should not seek visions or appearances of the angels. If someone sees angels, it does not mean that he has more faith than we do. If, for some reason, God wants you to see an angel or a vision, then you will. It is not something we should worry about. It will happen if it is meant to. In fact seeking after visions can open up a person to the power of Satan because he can imitate visions and give false revelations.

Fr Peter Prusakiewicz CSMA, Poland