The Symbolism of the Divine Mercy Image

Hi, this is Sarah's husband, Eric.  This is my first try at blogin' so bear with me.  Below is one of Sarah's drafts for a blog post that I Found and wanted to share with everyone as a thank you.  Her words are in parenthesis.

(Divine Mercy is one of those terms, that when you first hear it, it bounces our hard shell because it doesn't sound like anything that would apply to our lives.  However, the more you learn about God's mercy, the more you realize it is a part of everyday life as much as breathing, but in an unseen way.

St. Faustina saw in many visions, the image of the Divine Mercy Jesus that we see painted today.  She didn't like the painting that was done of the image and complained to Jesus that it wasn't as beautiful as the visions she saw.  But in obedience, she accepted. I personally like the this icon representation or this version a little better than the original, but that's not the point of the image.

The point of the image is to remind us, like Jesus said in the revelations to St. Faustina, is that he is dying to pour his mercy upon us, if we would only accept it.  The red rays symbolize

Jesus says it pains him when souls will not accept his mercy.  How many times in day, do I refuse to accept God's mercy by my pride? too many to count. Yet, that is the cool thing about Divine Mercy. The bigger the sinner, the bigger the sin, the happier it makes Jesus to give His mercy! He wants to give us his love and mercy if we would only let him. That's the caveat.

In big ways and small ways, we hold on to our sins. We don't want to admit that we did something wrong.)

Here is a image of St. Faustina and the Dvine Mercy image.

July 28, 2014

With great sadness we share the devastating news that Sarah, with her unborn daughter, Cecilia, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 28, 2014 after suffering a brain aneurysm.  A fund has been established for the long-term needs of her children at this site:  www.youcaring.com/harkinschildren.  Your prayers and support are deeply appreciated.

Anchor Bead

I've been wanting to make this one for awhile. I've had this idea to have three symbols for the theological virtues- faith, hope and love since last year.  I already have the praying hands for faith, and now this anchor is a symbol for hope. Next is the symbol for love; a heart of course. I promise it won't be too girly :)

The three beads will be placed at the beginning of every rosary, after the Our Father bead. This is where most people pray for these theological virtues since we cannot obtain them on our own efforts unlike the other virtues. These are total gifts from God since they come directly from Him.  

I love the symbol of the anchor for hope. It is very powerful.  Hope is the virtue of having confidence in God's mercy that we will be in heaven with Him someday.  When we have that hope, nothing in life can move us. We are anchored in God.  Now that is something I need to pray for everyday and I hope you are inspired and reminded by this bead to pray too.

Now for the bead making process.  First I mixed a ton of clay.  Broke my new roller a little and made my husband hate clay :) He is a good sport for helping me mix this hard stuff when my hands are completely sore from mixing all day.

Then I made the bottom of the anchor with the barbed edges.  I added the center and filled with clay around it.

I put the top of the anchor on and filled completely around with clay.

Then I started with the rope.

Finished rope and filled in.

Starting to roll out...

A few of the rolls in reduction process. I added some background clay that I thought made the rope stand out better. Plus, I am in love with mustard yellow :)

I chopped some of the beads and punched holes. Some have these stripes, some have yellow. I like the mix.

The baked bead ready for a rosary.

Shop Opening Soon!

Another little update since the last time I posted...I am nearly ready to open shop for First Communion rosaries.  This week!! I just finished a major bead and now I have two smaller ones, but I'm hoping Tuesday will be the day.  It's very exciting. It's been so long since the shop has been open. I really enjoy getting the work bead work done and fulfilling orders.  Plus, it helps to have awesome customers! Really, if it weren't for all my great customers asking when the shop will be open, I'm not sure I would have opened it this spring. So thank you YOU for all your encouragement.

Our new home

Other major news- we moved! That was the reason I haven't opened the shop yet.

Lastly, I cannot leave this post without an update on my baby.  Little Faustina has gotten so big! Still not walking, but that's ok. I can carry her around for now. She is 15 months old and getting cuter by the second. Of course, the other three kids are getting bigger and smarter and cuter every day too. It's a lot to keep up with. So many little souls for one mamma to take care of. Thankfully I don't have rely on my strength. God's grace is sufficient for anything.