Book Notes: St. Faustina Prayer Book for the Conversion of Sinners

I had put it off long enough; I finally read St. Faustina’s diary this Lent and it was amazing. It really left an imprint on my soul. It challenged my ideas of suffering and especially the idea that “if I could just talk to Jesus directly” things would be easier. It’s so clear that even having a direct line to Jesus doesn’t make all our suffering go away. But His mercy is endless if we will just ask for it. This is ultimately what Faustina hopes to teach the world.

If you haven’t read St. Faustina’s story, I recommend you make some time to do so. Here is an inexpensive version. I normally buy cheap books to keep my costs down, but this is one time when I really wish I would have bought a nicer version like this one. I can tell this book will be special to me for the rest of my life, so I'm adding this nicer one to my Christmas list!

After I finished, I wanted more. I found this little book, St. Faustina Prayer Book for the Conversion of Sinners, by Susan Tassone and it seemed like a great follow-up. It was just what I needed!

I am not a big fan of overly flowery language and that’s not what you’ll find in this book. Instead, I thoroughly enjoyed the very straightforward call to holiness that the book urges the reader toward.

[tweet "A straightforward call to holiness from St. Faustina. #bookreview -@sterlingjaquith"]

I felt inspired and uplifted!

I often feel a deep longing in my soul to pray with great passion, but I lack the words. It’s why I enjoy having small prayer books like this one that I can toss in my purse and keep with me. This book was perfect for that! It’s a wonderful book to read while you’re waiting for an appointment or enjoying some quiet time in Adoration.

Though there are many well-placed quotes from Faustina’s diary, the author adds her own commentary, which made up half of my highlights. I really like the way this book is laid out too. Each section is short with a very specific theme (i.e. purgatory, confession, the power of intercession etc.)

Then there are many prayers listed in the book as well. So if you’re having a bad day, you can pick it up, search for a section that speaks to you and find a lovely prayer to help. I especially enjoyed the Prayers to the Saints for Conversion. These gave me a little insight into the life of the saint and a sweet prayer to say.

“Conversion requires prayer… it’s a daily process.” Though I picked up this book intending to pray for the conversion of other sinners, I was surprised how much it made me want to double down on my own conversion!

Faustina has made me a big believer that our prayers are much more powerful than we realize. Even though we often don’t feel anything when we pray, we are still doing good and hopefully saving souls!

“We do not know the number of souls that is our to save through our prayers and sacrifices; therefore, let us always pray for sinners.” St. Faustina

You certainly don’t need to have read St. Faustina’s diary to read this book. It definitely stands alone with plenty of wisdom and guidance for how to pray for the conversion of sinners and ultimately focus on your own conversion along the way as well!

There are some books I hold on to so I can lend them to friends. This is a book I will hold on to so I can pull it out often when I need inspiration or strength. I would recommend this book to someone who has non-Catholic family members. Sometimes we feel helpless to convert those closest to us but having these prayers to turn to can help ease the ache we feel.

I hope you get a chance to add this to your library and to share Faustina’s idea with your Catholic friends and family!

Here are those links again!

St. Faustina Diary (Inexpensive Version or Nicer Version)

St. Faustina Prayer Book for the Conversion of Sinners

What are some of your favorite prayer books that you've read over the years?

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.

Copyright 2017 Sterling Jaquith
Your purchase of the resources mentioned here through Amazon affiliate links benefits the author of this article.