Use this prayer from the diary of St. Faustina Kowalska to encourage students to meditate on their past, present, and future. This exercise can help students to learn to appreciate the blessings that surround them, to surrender the past to Jesus, and to entrust the future to his will.
Begin by passing out handouts with the prayer printed on it.
O My God, when I look into the future, I am frightened, but why plunge into the future? Only the present moment is precious to me, as the future may never enter my soul at all. It is no longer in my power to change, correct or add to the past; for neither sages nor prophets could do that. And so, what the past has embraced, I must entrust to God.
O present moment, you belong to me, whole and entire. I desire to use you as best I can. And although I am weak and small, You grant me the grace of Your omnipotence. And so, trusting in your mercy, I walk through life like a little child, offering You each day this heart, burning with love for Your greater glory.”
Excerpt from the Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, Notebook 1, Section 2
Invite students to close their eyes and find a posture of prayer. Then read the prayer aloud, slowly and intentionally.
Next, tell the students to silently read through the prayer a few more times, praying with the words and contemplating what they mean to them. Encourage them to think about the following questions (write on board):
How does this prayer relate to your life today?
What do you struggle to surrender to Jesus the most?
Have you ever struggled to live in the present moment and to appreciate the blessings around you? Perhaps you find yourself constantly thinking about your past, weighed down by your wounds or regrets. Maybe you find that you are always looking ahead and waiting for what is to come, and this distracts you from the ways God is working in your life today.
What are some practical ways you can learn to be grateful for this day? Maybe consider starting a gratitude journal, or documenting your blessings and joys through pictures on your phone.
What does it mean to “walk through life like a little child?”
Optional: Have the students meet in small groups to discuss the questions, write answers to the questions in their journals, or write a short essay on one or two of the questions.
Megan Neuman is an Editorial Curriculum intern at Ave Maria Press. She is a senior English major at Franciscan University.
Follow these directions for a short lesson and activity on Blesed Carlo Acutis, a Catholic teenager with a great deication to the Eucharist who is expected to be canonized in the near future.
Explain a little bit about Bl. Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who died of leukemia in 2006. Although his parents were only nominally Catholic, Carlo had a supernatural love for the Eucharist. His love inspired him to use his talents with computers to create a website that catalogs every Eucharistic miracle in history.
Divide students into small groups and have them open Bl. Carlo Acutis’ website on Eucharistic miracles.
Ask the students to explore the website and select a Eucharistic miracle that they find particularly interesting.
Regather and ask each group to share their chosen miracle with the class.
This activity was created by Larisa Tuttle, a senior at the University of Dallas.
In December 1531, a beautiful woman appeared to an Indigenous farmer named Juan Diego outside of Mexico City. Over the next few visits this woman, who Juan Diego eventually learned was the Virgin Mary, asked him to petition his bishop to build a church. She also told Juan Diego to bring roses to the bishop, though it was not the season for roses. When he did as she instructed and opened his tilma before the bishop the roses dropped to the floor and an image of Our Lady appeared on his cloak.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has named the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 as a day of solidarity with immigrants and refugees.
Have the students work together to print the following prayer developed by Catholic Relief Services on a large sheet of butcher paper. Pin the prayer on a wall in the classroom.
Hail Mary, Lady of Peace, we pray for the peace in our world; make us peacemakers.
Hail Mary, Friend of Common People, unite us across economic lines; together let us raise up the cause of the oppressed.
Hail Mary, Mother of Mexico, help us both appreciate Latin America’s culture and work to end its poverty.
Hail Mary, Mother of the Infant Jesus, we pray for all children who are victims of war and hunger; let us stand for them.
Hail Mary, Wife of the Carpenter, Joseph, we pray for the rights of hardworking laborers in all the world; let their dignity be recognized.
Hail Mary, Woman of All Generations, move us to speak for the elderly who lack adequate health care and shelter.
Hail Mary, Homeless Mother, we pray for those without homes; let us advocate for affordable housing.
Hail Mary, Lady of All Colors, show us how to love all people by challenging racism and discrimination.
Hail Mary, Mother of Our World, make us global citizens, working for justice and well-being in all the world.
Amen
Next, share a link to Native Land Digital. Have the students check in on the site and locate the native people that once resided on the land where their ancestors first came to this country. Provide colored markers and have the students print the name of the indigenous people from their ancestral land on the prayer poster.
When everyone has printed a place, pray the prayer together with the class.
All Saints’ Day is on November first. This feast was officially initiated in 609 AD by Pope Boniface IV. Pope Boniface also established All Souls’ Day, which follows on November second.
On All Saints’ Day we remember those people who have died and who are now in heaven. Anyone who is in heaven is a saint, that is, someone who is holy. How many saints are there in heaven? Millions? Billions? We don’t know for sure but we hope that our family members and friends who have died are among them. We also hope to be a saint in heaven after we have died.
Typically on All Saints’ Day we think about canonized saints, those the Church has officially recognized for their holiness and who we acknowledge are in heaven. But as there are likely millions or billions of other saints who don’t have a capitalized “St.” in front of their name to us on earth and who are without an official feast day or memorial, All Saints’ Day is a time we should think about other holy people we knew in our lives, recognize them for the good example they left for us, and pray that they are in heaven. If, in fact, they are in heaven, we can ask them to pray for us too.
Have the students think about someone they know who has died and who they believe to be a saint in heaven. Go around the room in rapid order and have each student name the person and share one example of their holiness. (Or you may have the students write a journal entry on the same topic.)
Conclude the session by praying the responsorial psalm for All Saints Day:
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who Is St. Faustina?
St. Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938 ) was a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. On September 13, 1935, Jesus revealed himself to her in a vision. Her feast day is on October fifth.
Born as the third of ten children of a family of poor Polish peasants on August 25, 1905, Helena Kowalska felt the call to religious life from an early age. She lacked her mother’s permission and spent some time working as a housekeeper in order to provide her family financial support. At age nineteen she went with her sister to a dance at a local park and had a vision of the Suffering Jesus who spoke these words to her: “How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off.”
Helena made arrangements immediately to leave by train for Warsaw, eighty-five miles from her home. There she went into the first Catholic Church she saw and asked a priest for advice on which convent she might enter. Only the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy accepted Helena, provided that she first earned enough money to pay for her religious habit.
Taking the name Sr. Maria Faustina, her life as a religious would have been ordinary except for Jesus’ choice of her to be his “Apostle of Mercy.” She recorded Christ’s words in her diary, which she titled Divine Mercy in My Soul: “I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to my people. Today I am sending you with my mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart.”[1]
Sr. Faustina also wrote that Jesus told her to paint an image according to the pattern revealed in a vision to her, with the words “Jesus, I trust in You.” She was not an artist, and three sisters in the convent refused to help her draw. In 1934, her spiritual director, Fr. Michael Sopoćko, introduced her to artist Eugene Kazimierowski, who painted the image of Jesus and Divine Mercy as she described it to him.
Fr. Sopoćko had Sr. Faustina evaluated by a psychiatrist who was associated with the convent to gauge her mental health. She was declared mentally sound, and Sopoćko fully trusted her visions. On September 13, 1935, Sr. Faustina wrote about a vision of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Jesus also revealed to Sr. Faustina mystical visions of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. These, too, are recorded in diary entries.[2] For example:
On Heaven
I saw its unconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and then all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom they will never comprehend or fathom. This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures.
On Hell
Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a great place of torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is. The kinds of torture I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it, a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is conditional darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses, and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are tortures designed for particular souls. These are torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned.
On Purgatory
I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames, which were burning them, did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls called Her “The Star of the Sea.” She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice which said] “My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it.” Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls.
St. Faustina died from complications of tuberculosis on October 5, 1938. She was only thirty-three years old. When a sister asked St. Faustina if she was afraid of death, she replied, “Why should I be? All my sins and imperfections will be consumed like straw in the fire of Divine Mercy.”
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy was revealed to Sr. Faustina Kowalska comes from a vision of Jesus in which he told her to offer to God the Father the gift of his Body and Blood as a way to appease God’s wrath, specifically over a “most beautiful” Polish city which had fallen into sin. Jesus told Sr. Faustina to “unite yourself closely to me during the sacrifice of Mass and to offer my Blood and my wounds to my Father in expiation for the sins of that city.” Sr. Faustina prayed the following words, given to her by Christ: “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us.” This prayer remains central to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, today prayed on the beads of a rosary.
Sr. Faustina was questioned by her spiritual director, Fr. Michael Sopoćko, about the visions, and he recorded her response. When the Chaplet was printed on a holy card of Sr. Faustina after her death, Catholics around the world began to pray it for the benefits promised by Christ, specifically that everyone who recites it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Sr. Faustina had written these words of Jesus in her journal: “When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand before my Father and the dying not as the just judge but the Merciful Savior.” Sr. Faustina also prayed in her own words to Jesus, “to be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners.”
Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope, opened an investigation into the life of Sr. Faustina in 1965 while he was the archbishop of Krakow. Pope John Paul II would eventually beatify Sr. Faustina in 1993 and canonize her in 2000. He also established the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. Praying the Chaplet on the nine days before this Feast of Divine Mercy brings, in the words of Jesus to St. Faustina, “every possible grace to souls.”
How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
You can use Rosary beads or special Divine Mercy Chaplet beads to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Opening
1. Make the Sign of the Cross
2. Pray an Optional Opening Prayer
St. Faustina’s Prayer for Sinners
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon you and I beg your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with you for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of you light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equaled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in his mercy. God will not deny his mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to your feet that they may glorify your mercy throughout endless ages (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 72).
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you! (Repeat three times.)
3. Pray the Our Father
4. Pray the Hail Mary
5. Pray the Apostles’ Creed
Body
6. On a large bead pray the Eternal Father
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
7. On the ten small beads of each decade say:
For the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Repeat for the remaining four decades.)
Concluding Prayer
8. Pray the Holy God
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Repeat three times.)
9. Pray the Closing Prayers
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to your mercy—to your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out. Gracious God, do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to you, we implore you: anticipate us with your grace and keep on increasing your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do your holy will all through our life and at death's hour. Let the omnipotence of your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation’s enemies, that we may with confidence, as your children, await your [Son’s] final coming—that day known to you alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: through his merciful Heart, as through an open gate, we pass through to heaven (Diary, 1570).
[1] St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, 1588.
[2] The following three quotations are taken from St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, entries 777, 741, and 20, respectively.
One way to increase devotion to the saints is by developing a relationship with one particular saint—your patron saint. This exercise will help students choose their own patron saint. Create and distribute a worksheet with the following prompts.
Your Patron Saint
Write your first and middle names here:
Using a Catholic encyclopedia, or a book of saints, or an Internet site list as many saints as you can find that share one of your names.
Write your birthday and the date of your Baptism here:
List those saints whose feast day is one of the dates written above.
List as many hobbies or regular activities as you can think of that are important to you here:
Find out if there are patron saints for those hobbies or activities. List them here:
Now read the short biographies of the saints you have listed above until you find a story that inspires you. Write that saint’s name here:
Complete the following information about the saint who inspires you and who we can define as your “patron saint.”
Date and place of birth
Lifelong Catholic or convert?
Date and circumstance of death
Best known for
Virtues exhibited by this saint
Temptations or struggles faced by this saint
Extra Credit: Purchase and wear a necklace with a medal of your patron saint. Show the medal to your teacher.
March 19 is the Feast Day of St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus.
Whereas 2021 was the “Year of Devotion” our honor paid to St. Joseph does not end. Pope Francis said of St. Joseph (and Mary):
He was the husband. And Mary certainly never said to Joseph: “I am God’s mom, you are God’s employee.” Instead, she said: “You are my husband, I am a virgin (Joseph is too) , but you are my husband.” She was subordinate to her husband, as the culture of her time would have it. She prepared his meals, talked with him, together spoke about the Son, they shared the anguish when the Child, at age twelve, remained behind in Jerusalem, the anguish of a husband and wife, the anguish of parents. Normality in virginity. And she listened to Joseph made the big decisions, which was normal for a time. Joseph received messages from God in his dreams. She is the one full of grace, he is the just man, the man observant of the Word of God. A beautiful couple. (from Ave Maria: The Mystery of a Most Beloved Prayer by Pope Francis).
Share the Pope’s words with your students Use one of these assignments on St. Joseph or create your own:
Read the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17. Research the answer to this question: “Why did Jesus ancestry trace to Joseph, his foster father, and not Mary his natural mother?”
Read Matthew 1:18-25. Why is this passage called the “Annunciation to Joseph”? How does it compare to the Annunciation to Mary in Luke 1:26-38,
Write a prayer to St. Joseph, asking for his intercession in family life.
Draw a portrait of the Holy Family.
Answer: "When is a time you followed a dream?"
In this Year of St. Joseph, the second of his feast days is approaching on May 1. On this feast, we celebrate St. Joseph the Worker.
In the days leading up to this feast, have your students consider their future jobs and careers along with the meaning of work. Here are a few resources to help you begin planning a lesson.
Read this quotation from the USCCB document Economic Justice for All:
All work has a threefold moral significance. First, it is a principal way that people exercise the distinctive human capacity for self-expression and self-realization. Second, it is the ordinary way for human beings to fulfill their material needs. Finally, work enables people to contribute to the well-being of the larger community. Work is not only for oneself. It is for one's family, for the nation, and indeed for the benefit of the entire human family. (52)
Have the students write these three reasons in their notebooks or journals in their own words.
Have students honestly answer these questions as a way to help them gauge their strengths that might translate to a future career.
What do other people say are your strengths?
What do you think you are good at?
What talent do you enjoy using the most?
What school subjects to you excel in?
What honors or special awards have you received?
What special experiences have you had?
Ask students to list both positive and negative reasons for considering each of these options after high school:
Attending a trade, technical, or business school
Enrolling in a local junior college
Attending a state four-year college
Attending a private four-year college
Enrolling in an online college program
Being trained on the job
Entering the military service where you can get job training
The following are top ten personal characteristics employers seek in job candidates. Have students rate themselves 1 to 10 (10 being the best) for each characteristic. Then ask them to write a short summary evaluating what their ratings taught them.
Honesty/Integrity
Motivation/Initiative
Communication skills (oral and written)
Self-confidence
Flexibility
Interpersonal skis
Strong work ethic
Teamwork skills
Leadership skills
Enthusiasm
Pray together the Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker.
O Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having death always before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch St. Joseph. Such shall be my motto in life and in death. Amen.
