Purest of All Lilies

Book excerpt: Saint Faustina is well known for the revelations of Divine Mercy that she received from Jesus and recorded in her Diary. But few know that she also received many revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary and enjoyed a special relationship with her. Now, in Purest of All Lilies, a prominent Marian priest with a background in Mariology explores St. Faustina's rich relationship with Mary from her love of Mary growing up in Poland to the many Diary passages that she devoted to the Mother of God when she was a nun. The reader learns how St. Faustina's father would begin each day singing prayers to the Blessed Virgin and of the family's special May and October devotions to the Mother of God. At the early age of five, the future saint would tell her mother of dreams she had in which she walked hand-in-hand with the Blessed Virgin in a beautiful garden. Along with St. Faustina's early devotion to Mary, the author shows us how the Blessed Mother taught her as a nun important lessons about suffering, purity of heart and humility. Perhaps most fascinating of all, this Marian priest analyses the poems that St. Faustina wrote about Mary and the metaphors she used to describe the Blessed Virgin, including flowers such as the lily, the rose and the violet.