Among the Stoics, mercy was considered a human weakness or even an ægritudo animi, a disease of the soul. In this sense, it would not behove a truly virtuous person to feel compassion for the misery of others. For Aristotle, someone facing misfortune would only be worthy of empathy if he had not committed vile deeds; someone who was guilty of such would be the object of reprobation, never of pity.
Our Lord, however, showed that mercy should be directed both to those who suffer from fortuitous misery and to sinners, who were beneficiaries of the Redemption. Furthermore, the Saviour revealed that He came for the wretched, the sick, and not for the healthy (cf. Mark 2:17).
But we need to understand well what mercy means and who the wretched are.
St. Augustine defines mercy as “the compassion that our heart feels for the misery of others, which leads us to help them if we can” (De Civitate Dei. L.IX, c.5). Now, misery is opposed to happiness, that is, to the full satisfaction of the possession of good, which all men desire by nature. Hence the Bishop of Hippo adds:
“Only he is happy who has everything he wants [the good] and who wants nothing bad” (De Trinitate. L.XIII, c.5).
Contrary to what utilitarianism preaches, the greatest human misery is not poverty or the deprivation of any temporal good, but sin. That is why the Good Shepherd came to heal this wound, above all others.
In recent times, much has been said about divine mercy in theological and pastoral contexts, emphasizing above all its limitless nature. In fact, “God, […] is rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4). Furthermore, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, mercy is the greatest of virtues when referring to God, “for it belongs to mercy to be bountiful to others, and, what is more, to succour others in their wants, which pertains chiefly to one who stands above. Hence mercy is accounted as being proper to God: and therein His omnipotence is declared to be chiefly manifested” (Summa Theologiæ. II-II, q.30, a.4).
Nevertheless, when we speak of mercy today, we often forget its ultimate cause: the correction of deficiencies, so as to attain union with God and as a consequence, eternal happiness in Heaven. Now, this does not happen through simple “tolerance”, through empty “dialogue” or even through indifference towards sin. Mercy is not complacency. On the contrary, it shows itself to be “intransigent” in seeking the salvation of the sinner at all costs.
That is why great mercies are sometimes granted through immense punitive measures. And in this sense God was infinitely merciful in applying punishment to Adam and Eve, in the flood, in the confusion of languages and in the greatest of pains, the Cross of Christ. It is not uncommon for suffering to be a “divine messenger” of extreme effectiveness in rescuing the wretched from their misery. Indeed, “he who spares the rod hates his son” (Prv 13:24).
In this context, Our Lady effectively showed herself to be the Mother of Mercy at Fatima, as an announcer not only of eternal happiness for those who would convert, but also of punishment as a means of mitigating justice, and as a gateway to divine mercy. In God, mercy is so sublime that it even embraces justice. ◊
