I recently visited with Ralph Martin President of Renewal Ministries on his EWTN television show: “The Choices We Face” to discuss Divine Mercy, St. Faustina, and my book 52 Weeks with Saint Faustina: A Year of Grace and Mercy. We also chatted about my life a bit which you can see in the first show. In this 2nd show we also discussed Our Lady of Fatima, the shepherd children, and so much more. You can see the show below. I hope that you enjoy it. God bless you!
The following is an excerpt from the Marian Press book 52 Weeks with St. Faustinaby Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle:
“Sow happiness about you … They should take leave of you with their hearts filled with joy.” — Diary, 55
Our spiritual exercise this week is all about joy. We will delve into how our desires for happiness must correspond to God’s desires for us, and that we can be joyful as we endure trials at the same time. Many times, St. Faustina’s joy was intertwined with tortures she felt in the spiritual life. This week, we learn authentic joy from St. Faustina and the other saints. Let’s get right to it!
God wants us to be happy. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is possessed by angels and human beings. Joy grows in our souls out of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Saint Teresa of Calcutta used to say, “A joyful heart is a normal result of a heart burning with love.” She told her sisters that if they didn’t have joy in their hearts, they could pack up and go home. It might sound harsh, but she knew that the poor did not deserve to be served by grumpy nuns! She also often said, “Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls.” This is a bit similar to the phrase that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Speaking of which, no one wants to associate with a sour-faced person! Once when lacking the time to deal with pettiness, false piety, and grumpiness, St. Teresa of Avila said, “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!” The authentic joy that radiates from our loving souls can deeply affect those in our midst. As Christians, we are to exude joy. It actually will help to transform lives (our own, too!).
My former spiritual director Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, agreed with St. Teresa of Avila that our joy needs to be real. He also emphasized that our desires for happiness must correspond to God’s desires for us. In a lecture about joy, he said, “Who is the happiest being in existence? Who? God. And the most fundamental reason why God made us is that we might share in His happiness. Why go into the subject?” he asked. “Because Christianity is the religion of joy. There’s a sure way of turning people off or turning them away from the true faith if we who profess the faith are obviously unhappy. That is something, by the way, you can never mask. You can pretend to be happy. You can claim to be happy, but if you’re not happy, you’re going to reveal yourself. And finally, why go into the subject? Because even people who are more or less happy ought to be more happy.”
How do we become more happy and possess joy? Father Hardon explained, “Joy is satisfaction, or the satisfaction of having one’s desires fulfilled … But … only those desires satisfied which are truly good. What then is truly good which, once we get it and possess it, we are happy? [When] your desire corresponds with what God wants.”
One time when Sr. Faustina was given spiritual counsel by Fr. Andrasz, SJ, he told her:
Act in such a way that all those who come in contact with you will go away joyful. Sow happiness about you because you have received much from God; give, then, generously to others. They should take leave of you with their hearts filled with joy, even if they have no more than touched the hem of your garment. Keep well in mind the words I am telling you right now (Diary, 55).
She strove to do just that.
Torture and Joy Intertwined
Earlier, we discussed the time at Plock when Jesus revealed the Divine Mercy Image, and Sr. Faustina felt much uncertainty because there was no one who could tell her that she was on the right road. Then one day, one of the sisters heaped her anger upon Sr. Faustina. “You queer, hysterical visionary, get out of this room; go on with you, Sister!” She continued to lash out at her. Sister Faustina held her upsetness inside and rushed to her cell, where she fell down on her face before the Crucifix. She looked at Jesus, but she was speechless. “I could no longer say a single word,” she recalled (Diary, 128). Suddenly, Satan took advantage of her pain and planted doubts and discouragement in her mind. Sister Faustina thought, “How can one be sincere when one is so misunderstood? Jesus, Jesus, I cannot go on any longer.” She again fell to the floor under the weight of her anguish. “I broke out in a sweat, and fear began to overcome me.” She felt so alone. “Suddenly, I heard a voice within my soul. ‘Do not fear; I am with you.’ And an unusual light illuminated my mind, and I understood that I should not give in to such sorrows. I was filled with a certain strength and left my cell with new courage to suffer” (Diary, 129).
Even though Sr. Faustina felt a renewed strength after that trying incident, for some reason, she grew a bit negligent. In part, she was afraid of being deceived. She wrote, “I did not pay attention to these interior inspirations and tried to distract myself. But despite the noise and distraction, I could see what was going on in my soul.” God doesn’t leave us alone. He seeks us out. Sister Faustina wrote, “The word of God is clear, and nothing can stifle it. I began to avoid encounters with the Lord in my soul because I did not want to fall prey to illusions.” She continued, “However, in a sense,” she said, “the Lord kept pursuing me with His gifts; and truly I experienced, alternately, torture and joy” (Diary, 130). Sufferings were mounting and would soon come to a peak. Sister Faustina would make up her mind what to do about the doubts she was experiencing.
Something to Ponder
We know God wants us to be happy — truly happy. Yet, in the spiritual life, we will endure many trials. As St. Faustina shared in her Diary, she humbled herself in prayer before God when she was at her wits’ end with sufferings. God gave her peace and an abiding joy in her heart. We can be joyful and endure trials at the same time. The deep and abiding joy in our hearts is in knowing that in the end it will all work out. We know that there is eternal life, where we will indeed be happy forever with God in Heaven. When our hearts are heavy in anguish and trial, let’s be sure to always look up to God and ask for His help. Let’s ask for the gift of joy in our hearts, especially so that we can share that joy with others who might be struggling. Saint Teresa of Calcutta told me often, “Keep the joy of loving Jesus ever burning in your heart and share this joy with others by your thoughtful love and humble service.” That particular quote was taken from a personal letter that Mother Teresa wrote to me on October 5, 1988 (the 50th anniversary of St. Faustina’s death and now her feast day)!
A Merciful Action
All those around you in your family and beyond deserve to see your joyful demeanor and actions, and to hear your joyful words. It can be difficult when we are tired or suffering in some way. We need to pray for the graces and put forth the efforts. Carry out beautiful deeds of mercy this week with a joyful, loving heart!
A PRAYER OF MERCY FOR THIS WEEK
(To be prayed each day this week.)
Dear Merciful Jesus, help me to radiate Your love and joy to all I meet. Mother Mary, show me how. Saint Faustina, please pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen.
I just got word from my publisher that my book Reclaiming Sundays has been printed and is all ready to ship next week! That means I might see copies by the end of next week and I’ll be able to ship out pre-orders, as well as any new orders that come in!
That said, if you’d like to purchase a copy or more for Christmas gift giving, now is the time. You can order here. As well, here is a blog post that gives many pertinent details about the book.
I’m excited! Can you tell? That’s because I believe that this book will immensely help Catholic and Christian families far and wide to RECLAIM their family Sundays!
You know what? I just decided–right now–to offer a special deal (for a limited time) when buying more than one copy! If you’d like to order in bulk (10 or more copies), just let me know. You can email me: DMCOBoyle@aol.com with “Bulk order inquiry” in the subject line. I’ll be happy to help if I can.
If you have already taken advantage of pre-ordering, you have received more than a dollar off per book. Your order will be shipped as soon as those books arrive to my home!
Brief Description: Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle encourages Catholic families to reclaim a significant tradition: setting apart Sundays as a day of worship, true rest, teaching, and simply spending precious time together. In fifty-two creative chapters Donna-Marie presents fun and meaningful ideas inspired by the seasons (both natural and liturgical), holidays, saints days, and holy scripture, to help keep Sundays special, just as God said we should.
On another note, I hope that your Advent season is going well. This morning on the radio, I discussed the Advent season and my book Advent with Our Lady of Fatima (The Son Rise Morning Show).
Stay the course! Don’t let the advertising frenzy get to you! Carve out those times for very necessary prayer. Prepare your heart for the Christ Child!
From the Women of Grace: “The common denominator of the human experience is suffering. On this week’s Women of Grace TV series, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle will share with us how to ‘Discover the Beauty of the Cross.’ Watch weekdays at 11:00 a.m./11:30 p.m. ET via EWTN #TV: http://www.womenofgrace.com/en-us/media/tv/default.aspx
Sometime in May of 2017 the second edition of my book “A Catholic Woman’s Book of Prayers” will be released.
I’m giving you a sneak peek of the sweet cover image.
Here’s the publisher’s description:
As an award-winning author, TV host of EWTN’s “Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms,” “Catholic Mom’s Cafe,” and “Feeding Your Family’s Soul,” mother of five and grandmother, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is well aware of the difficulties women face today as they balance all their responsibilities and struggle to find time for prayer.
This book will affirm women on their journey while celebrating the strength, dignity, and specific gifts of women in the context of the faith. Donna-Marie offers words of encouragement for women who are single, married, mothers, consecrated women, and single mothers, while straightforwardly addressing specific difficulties in women’s lives, with prayers for stress, complicated pregnancies, and walking through divorce. Words from Mother Teresa, St. John Paul II, saints and mystics enrich the text with inspiration.
This Bookmark episode (above) was filmed last summer at the Catholic Marketing network and is comprised of two segments. I am in the second segment. You can scroll the little marker to the halfway point or watch the whole show. Below, I am standing with EWTN’s Bookmark Host and my good friend Doug Keck after filming our program.
You can click on the book cover image to see more about the book as well as ordering information at my “book” page.
“You lifted my spirits, pointing out how motherhood is a ‘sublime calling,'” she told me.
A very beautiful part of my ministry to mothers, families, and women is that I often feel blessed when hearing from someone who expresses her heartfelt thanks for my work. It causes me to stop right then to give glory to God, thanking Him for using His little servant and working in that person’s heart.
I recently received a beautiful email from a young expectant homeschooling mother of five children. I asked her permission to share part of it.
Here it is:
I must tell you how much your books and talks have affected my life. I am not even sure how I discovered you. I think it was an Amazon search years ago for Catholic motherhood. The first book that I’ve read by you was Embracing Motherhood, which made me feel elevated in my status as a mom. You lifted my spirits, pointing out how motherhood is a “sublime” calling. For years, I just wanted my mom and mother-in-law to come beside me and lift me up and praise the work I was doing, but the reality is that they grew-up in a very feminist generation and seem to be blind to the validity of this work. So, your writings filled that need for validation for me.
Next, I started listening to Everyday Blessings For Catholic Moms on my Kindle as I went around cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. The kids always knew when I was folding clothes bc the theme music would blare out 🙂 Then, I read The Domestic Church, and one of my favorite passages in that book (which I double highlighted) was when you said that “Blessed (soon to be saint 🙂 Teresa’s advice was to not be ashamed of humble work which is a huge part of mothering: an extraordinary vocation in which little saints are raised inside the hidden confines of the homelife amid the nitty-gritty, humble work of the mother in the home.” That one statement helps to bring me back to a place of peace when I am tempted to grumble and get discouraged with the nitty-gritty of it all.
She continued…
I cannot express to you what a miracle it is that a girl like me (raised in a non-church going home with a mom who thinks I have lost my mind to be open to this many children…and consequently, she has not offered any support or help) is on the path that I am on. I owe it to the great influences of women like you! You have come into my home and spoken words of faith and encouragement. Your words have given me strength when I’ve been tempted to agree with my naysayers that I am nuts for doing this. Your work renews my sense of purpose and inspires me to go on when every bone in my exhausted body says, “Just quit; put them in public school; and, put your feet up with a latte.” ?
Next, my goals are to order the Miraculous Medal book, the Mother Teresa Friendship book and the Children’s book on Angels. I will read them all. Please don’t ever stop writing!!!!! Keep the nourishment coming! Your books are my spiritual direction. They are my friends.
My dear Reader, I want you to know that your loving words and actions mean more than you might ever know. The culture does not make it easy for the heroic mothers who are trying their best to raise Christian children. They are constantly bombarded by the crazy mixed messages of the culture and are not often encouraged in their beautiful sacrificial role of serving their family. Protecting their family from the influences of the evil in society and working hard to teach, care, and most of all, love their children can be tiring.
That mother you see who seems to have it all together, might actually be deeply hurting inside because she craves some motherly affirmation–some kind of shot in the arm to keep her going. You can be the one to help her to know that she is so treasured by God and extremely important to her family in a sometimes thankless job, humbly working through the nitty gritty details of life in the family.
Please go out of your way, and perhaps even push a bit beyond your comfort zone to encourage the many mothers in the trenches raising their little saints to heaven. They need our kind and loving words of encouragement and affirmation. Please help that frazzled or worn out Mom in the grocery store or on the plane–wherever the encounter unfolds and the need arrises. Let her know that her work and sacrifice are SO very important. After all, God has entrusted her with the human being!
I am absolutely sure that you will find countless opportunities–even just in your daily life as you encounter mothers and grandmothers–to help uplift them in their sublime vocation of motherhood – that beautiful vocation of LOVE.
Award-winning anchor and reporter Liz Faublas recently interviewed me about The Kiss of Jesus for Currents TV in Brooklyn. Here is our five minute interview:
“Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s newest book moved me and inspired me more than any memoir I have read. I met Donna-Marie through reading all her books and watching her programs on EWTN. I learned in one of her earlier books that she had been abandoned by her first husband and raised her children as a single mother for some years. I had no idea she suffered so many crosses in her life. This soft spoken, mild mannered, loving women always inspired me to strive to become the wonderful wife and mother that she was in her domestic church. Now that I know what she had to overcome, leaves me even more inspired to never give up and to live a life of pray and joy in spite of our struggles. To me, Donna-Marie is a living saint and offers so much guidance in her own ministry to me and all who come in contact with her. As she had Mother Teresa and others in her life to guide her we have the many aspects of Donna-Marie’s ministry along with Jesus, Mother Mary and our favorite saints to guide us to get through our own crosses and receive the Kiss of Jesus. I highly recommend this book, it will change your life as it did mine. I thank Donna-Marie for writing this memoir to help us all. I know it had to be very difficult for her. God Bless You, Donna-Marie.”
Teresa Tomeo has said in her endorsement for my memoir The Kiss of Jesus:
“In this amazing true story of faith Donna-Marie shares painful details of her past struggles as well as a very honest discussion concerning life’s many challenges. This is not so her readers will feel sorry for her but instead to show all of us that even in the most challenging of circumstances God is with us. He turns the greatest tragedies into triumphs and in Donna-Marie’s case the Lord turned her misery into a powerful ministry.”
I enjoyed being with dear friend and radio host Teresa Tomeo on EWTN’s “Catholic Connection” this morning chatting about my memoir The Kiss of Jesus. In case you weren’t able to tune in, I have the entire interview right here for you to listen when it’s convenient for you.
There’s a new cover for my memoir: The Kiss of Jesus. It’s pretty similar to the earlier cover except that the designer “turned up the contrast” on certain parts to make it more striking and tweaked some things. What do you think?
An endorsement from Al Kresta for my upcoming memoir, The Kiss of Jesus: How Mother Teresa and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross.
“The things we carry with us, the stories that make us who we are usually remain hidden from the watching world. Until now, that has been true of Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle who, for years, I’ve known as a writer of rare luminous simplicity and maternal sensitivity whose spirituality bears the mark of her encounters with Mother Teresa. But I was unprepared for the shocking assaults, penetrating injuries, wounds of betrayal, shame of poverty and neglect that alternately enraged and grieved me as I read her memoir. These dark episodes form a devilish veil that can only be pierced by the sword of Christ’s severe mercy. This is no mere conversion story. The power of His grace far exceeds God’s momentary acceptance of a sinner. Here grace is an active, personal force molding, shaping, nurturing, and transforming her. Transformed for love and service. She is led into moving evangelistic encounters with family, strangers and neighbors. So please, don’t deprive yourself of the tough, relentless grace that fills this book. Take up and read. Share in the dispensation of grace Donna-Marie has received and you will learn love and peace in the midst of tribulation.”
~Al Kresta, President, CEO Ave Maria Communications Host, Kresta in the Afternoon
ALL four of these books for $14.00! Three Lenten books and one hard cover Catholic Saints Prayer Book for inspiration this Lenten season.
Here is what the publisher says about them:
The Bringing Lent Home series gives families with young children a no-hassle resource for daily Lenten reflection and observance. Author Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, EWTN television host and bestselling Catholic author, presents a beloved saint in each booklet and offers the witness and wisdom of their lives to show families how better to pray, fast, and care for the poor during Lent. Bringing Lent Home booklets can be used during any of the three lectionary cycles and are designed for families with children younger than thirteen.
From the Introduction:
“What can the saints of yesterday offer us today? Transcending history, they offer us timeless wisdom and inspiration, while bringing us closer to God. Sanctity surpasses time and is forever with near us.
The saints’ exemplary examples of holiness give us unparalleled help and sustain our hope, especially during trying times. Just as our association with fellow Christians helps us come closer to Jesus, so our communion with the saints in heaven helps join us to Jesus, but more perfectly…”
You can order your autographed copies here. All FOUR for $14.00! Each order is sent with a blessed Miraculous Medal.
Learn more here.
