It was during the Christmas season, while visiting a doctor friend, whom I accompanied during a Christmas exhibition.
Before leaving, I asked him for a medical opinion, and he advised me to undergo tests. The result was positive. I was diagnosed with cancer.
Thus began a meeting unlike any other, a new encounter with Jesus, as if it were for the first time.
I paused and faced true pain. I didn’t want anything anymore, neither work nor treatment. My family intervened and told me, “You can be treated, you can recover.” And then I saw Jesus in the sick person. I asked Him, “If you were in my place, what would you do?”
I learned from the words of St. Faustina that pain, if accepted with hope, becomes a grace. In her Diary, she wrote: “Suffering is a great grace. (…) suffering crystallises love.” “I love You, Jesus, with every drop of my blood […], as a token of my true love.” (Diary 57).
I understood that the cross is a school of love. Not through words, but through trust. He chose me, He called me.
The hospital where I underwent tests became my second home, a place of my work, and the doctors and nurses became my family. In the hallways, during tests and procedures, I meditated and experienced the Cross. I prayed for Mercy, breathed Mercy, and offered everything for those I love.
St. Faustina showed me that pain accepted in surrender becomes a school of pure, selfless love, a love that does not seek consolation but a love that fills me with joy in being with You and in You.
“ True love of God means doing God’s will. (…) My daughter, the more you love suffering, the purer will be your love for Me.” (Diary 279)
Jesus, You did not promise me that You would take away the cross, but You gave me the strength to carry it.
Your remedy is Your will. And as I follow Your will, my pain turns into a path of salvation. With You and through the intercession of St. Faustina, my pains lessen in days of suffering, not because they disappear, but because they unite with Your suffering and gain redemptive value for me.
O Jesus, unite my small sufferings with Your Cross. Transform pain into unity and the Cross into hope.
I pray that I may continue my life in the service of humanity, be a daughter of Mercy, a living witness to the fulfillment of Your will, and that I may listen to You, serve with Mercy, Humility, and Love.
You, Jesus are the one, who drank the cup before me and give it to me, so that I may share Your Cross of love.
Cross of the Resurrection, bless my life, my family, my community, and my ascension with You to where You are. I believe in Divine joy, I belong to You, I trust You, my Jesus. Amen.
Marleine Haddad, member of “Faustinum,” Lebanon
