The Two Divine Promises PROMISE: "Each priest who worthily offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for 30 consecutive days and, in addition, makes the Stations of the Cross daily, will receive for himself: and another soul selected by him, the assurance of eternal salvation." PROMISE: "Likewise, each individual who will receive Holy Communion worthily for 30 consecutive days, and will recite one Our Father and Hail Mary for the welfare of the Holy Catholic Church, will receive for himself and one other soul selected by him, the assurance of eternal salvation." -----Words of Our Lord to a Polish soul The Two Divine Promises are a private revelation. Are we duty-bound by Faith to believe in them? Np. But are they true? May we presume that they are true? I would say yes, that we can perform this devotion with relative confidence, having always a conditional attitude in mind and by addressing Our Lord in something of the following manner: "Dear Lord, if The Two Divine Promises are in fact true and if Thou wilt indeed reward the faithful execution of this devotion with such glorious results, I hereby offer it to Thee for the purposes Thou hast ordained." Can we be hurt spiritually by making this devotion? It is difficult to see how, for we are merely employing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Blessed Eucharist and a few extra prayers -----the normal means Our Lord has established for the welfare of our souls and our eternal salvation. May we propagate this devotion? And should we? Of course! What possible harm can be done by promoting attendance at Mass, the Sacraments and prayer? Should we foist upon others our strong conviction that this revelation is true? No, for others may get the wrong idea-----for example, that we think a person has to believe in The Two Divine Promises, or that we have become "misguided" by placing too much confidence in a private revelation. May we proceed to the practice and promotion of this devotion with a relative moral certitude that it is true? Of course-----so long as we always realize that it came from a private source and there is no absolute way to confirm it-----and also so long as we submit our minds and our hearts in advance to whatever decision might come from Holy Mother Church in its regard, in keeping with the famous decrees of Pope Urban VIII to that effect. For, again, we are practicing and promoting in this devotion nothing more than what Holy Mother the Church asks of us-----Mass, Sacraments, prayer, and the urging of these for others as well. The important question here is whether God has in fact bound Himself to grant the results which this devotion claims for itself. Again, we cannot know for sure. We must simply leave that to Him in His great mercy and wait until eternity to find out. But surely such a powerful sacrificial work as The Two Divine Promises call for by us -----on behalf of ourselves and others-----can only do great, great good toward those ends for which we offer this devotion. The Two Divine Promises are an efficacious novena, particularly for priests, who through their daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and their daily meditations of the Way of the Cross -----Christ's Suffering-----may introduce into their souls those values of Christ's teachings which He brought upon earth and through which will follow the regeneration of the world and of the souls of mankind.  Through the faithful participation in this novena, the clergy may promptly achieve a unity with Jesus Christ -----the greatest gift of sanctity-----and assist many persons in truly understanding that eternal life is the greatest fortune anyone can possibly attain. The Two Divine Promises should especially encourage religious nuns to a continued practice of this novena -----which for them is a very easy matter-----that through their daily union with Jesus Christ in Holy Communion and through praying the Our Father and the Hail Mary for the welfare of the Church they may obtain for themselves the highest grace of sanctity and at the same time assist the Church in its mission of saving souls. The Two Divine Promises are a great devotion of God's Mercy, which allows us to trust that, should we as the result of our sinful weaknesses, succumb to sin after completing this novena, even then we shall promptly arise from our transgressions and shall begin again to serve God with an even greater love and humility than before. The Two Divine Promises are the great manifestation of God's Mercy in response to the martyrdom of the millions who lost their lives during the recent holocaustal war. They are a great Divine sign indicating the acceptance of the sacrifice made by the innocent multitudes of men, women, children and clergy who remained steadfast in their faith to the very end and deposited in tribute at the throne of the Blessed Trinity, for all of the world to see, their life's blood in witness to Christ. The Two Divine Promises are a reminder to every Christian, during the 30-day duration of the novena, that the way which leads to the attainment of the grace assuring eternal salvation may often be strewn with sufferings. Sources: A 1947 Publication in Polish and Translated by San Miguel Publishing, and reset by TAN Books, 1987, author, Fr. Roman Hoppe; and PRAYERS AND HEAVENLY PROMISES, Joan Carroll Cruz, TAN Books. HOME-----------------------BACK TO FAITH BY THE NUMBER www.catholictradition.org/Christ/divine-promises.htm