Healing through the Litany of Trust
Charcoal drawing of Saint Faustina by Catholic artist Michael Corsini.
Image used with permission of the artist.
I don’t know about you, but as an adult child of divorce, one of my biggest triggers is the word trust. If you want to send me spiraling down a deep dark hole of confusion and despair, utter the phrase, “Trust me.” Although you can’t see me, my face is currently contorted into a mixed expression of horror and contempt. For me, “Trust me” is synonymous with the phrase “I promise”; and thirty years of broken promises from my dad have instilled a deep aversion to either phrase.
I’m starting off dark here, I know...but “trust me,” “I promise” we are heading somewhere better! And if you’re not there yet in your healing journey, at least follow along skeptically, as you’ve probably done for most of your life when people have asked for your trust, until Someone greater than me captures your broken heart.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness” (no. 397, emphasis added).
Here’s where I have to take us just a little deeper into the darkness before the Light breaks through and brings forth the day.
Our core wound is a lack of trust in the goodness of God. Did you hear that? A lack of trust is at the very center of all the broken parts of humanity. Every single human being struggles to trust the Creator.
The stage has been set, and the effects of the wound take hold.
Now, take that primary spiritual disease of lacking trust in God’s goodness and add in a traumatic, heart-crushing split in the foundation of a person’s natural life (yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about divorce) and you have a recipe for disaster.
Good thing God didn’t leave us in the disaster zone!
Rebuilding my trust in God’s goodness has been quite the disaster relief project. Some days it feels like only pebbles are being added to my rebuild; and other times it feels like the whole building collapses down upon me again and it’s time to start all over.
But recently, God has sent me what has been perhaps the most powerful tool (outside of the sacraments) for this rebuilding project: The Litany of Trust.
To be honest, I can be pretty dense when it comes to God’s messages of love. This thickheadedness probably stems from my parents’ divorce and my subsequent unconscious decision of total self-reliance, but that’s for another post (or possibly a novel-length book). Suffice it to say, when He first presented the Litany of Trust to me, I thought it was awesome, but had no idea how powerful it really is. It took over six months of Him strewing hints (and blatant emails) in my direction for me to catch on.
In case you aren’t familiar with Litanies, a Litany is basically a prayer that is a list based on a “theme”. Some more common or traditional Litanies are the Litany of Humility, the Litany to the Saints, the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In each case, prayers are uttered and a refrain is made in response to each ‘item’ on the list.
The Litany of Trust is divided into two parts: invoking the name of Jesus to deliver us from certain fears or anxieties (“Deliver me, Jesus”) and proclaiming our trust in Jesus (“Jesus, I trust in You”).
The Divine Mercy image and its message of “Jesus, I trust in You” have been at the center of my prayer for quite a few years. In fact, Saint Faustina had to pursue me at first through my husband and his devotion to the message of Divine Mercy. A priest once told me that the whole message of the Gospel can be summed up in those five words: Jesus, I trust in You. Boy, did that make my heart skip a beat (partly out of love and partly out of fear). The idea of trust being the message of the Gospel didn’t sit well with me at first, at least not on a deeper level. It has taken the skillful hand of the Divine Physician to pull back the layers of my heart and reveal the deeper wounds in need of healing.
Once I finally “got the message” on the Litany of Trust, I made it a regular part of my prayer life. I say the Litany in the morning when I first wake up and in the evening right before I turn off the light. I cannot begin to tell you how deeply the words and message of this Litany have changed my heart. In moments of despair, lines from the Litany come into my heart like a healing balm and the truth is able to break through all the lies I have come to believe.
Instead of being words on a page, the repetition has made it so the words are written on my heart (“I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33b). The very place where I have let my trust in God die, is slowly becoming a place of love and mercy. Although the story started out dark, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
And so, I leave you with some practical examples, in the form of a meditation/prayer, of how the Litany of Trust pervades my daily life, leading me every closer to Jesus, the one in whom we can safely put all our trust.
When I am tempted to revert to my habit of independence and self-reliance:
From the belief that I have to earn your love:
Deliver me, Jesus.
When my past wounds trap me into thinking I cannot trust God’s promises:
From all suspicion of your words and promises:
Deliver me, Jesus.
When I want to run from being little and childlike:
From the rebellion against childlike
dependency of you:
Deliver me, Jesus.
When I am triggered from events in the past:
From resentment or excessive
preoccupation with the past:
Deliver me, Jesus.
When I feel abandoned and alone:
That you are continually holding me,
sustaining me, loving me:
Jesus, I trust in You.
When my wounds and suffering threaten to overwhelm me:
That you are with me in my suffering:
Jesus, I trust in You.
When I feel ignored and overlooked:
That you always hear me and in your goodness,
always respond to me:
Jesus, I trust in You.
When I need to know worth and value:
That I am your beloved one:
Jesus, I trust in You.
Intercessory Prayer
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to "distribute graces as you will, to whom you will, and when you will." Relying on this, we ask your intercession for the graces we need, especially for the intentions [insert your petition here]. Help us, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of our lives. Amen
(The above prayer is slightly modified from this one found on the the Marian Fathers in Stockbridge, MA divinemercy.org webpage.)
About the Author
Stephanie is a wife and mother of 3 boys. She and her family live in PA. Her husband works for their local parish and she homeschools their boys. According to her eight year old, she enjoys reading, napping and watching The Chosen.
Reflection Questions for Small Groups or Individuals
Do you struggle to trust? How has your parent’s divorce or separation impacted your ability to trust others in your life? How has it impacted your ability to trust God?
How have you seen, and/or encountered, the goodness of God?
Take a moment to read over and pray the litany of trust. What stirs in your heart? What comes to mind? Where is the Lord leading you? How is he leading you to trust Him more in this moment?