Today's time, like any other, is full of people who are sick in body and in soul, people who are lonely, poor, dependent, homeless, elderly, and dying. It is a time we can describe as the age of individualism. Yet we can also see it from another side—as a time that gives us many opportunities to show concrete acts of mercy.

This publication came into being with the intention of sharing personal experiences gained during our work. The book was created on the basis of multi-year practical experience. The authors of the individual chapters are people working with different target groups, such as families in need, single mothers with children in crisis centers, addicted people, seniors, and the dying.

Our effort is to bring mercy into everyday life exactly where we are and to share our personal experiences of showing mercy. The goal of all is to make mercy close at hand, which should become our life program, and at the same time the awareness that noticing one another is a path to deep inner joy. We want to encourage and inspire each other in showing mercy to everyone who lives with us.

A major contribution of the publication is practical experience in various areas, but especially testimonies that speak for themselves. In them we recognize human misery, pain of heart, and also the healing power of love with which many bow down toward the wounded.

It is obvious that mercy, which we expect from God and from people, also requires our cooperation and ability to open ourselves to those we meet on our paths. The insights and experiences presented in this publication are intended to inspire, motivate, guide, and at the same time ignite all readers into doing good. From the authors' perspective, this is a way to bring mercy into everyday life—to people with whom we not only work, but with whom we also live. Our effort is to pour hope into a better tomorrow for everyone who is wounded, disappointed, and resigned, while also encouraging those in helping professions toward merciful love.

1 MAJÁK NÁDEJE
– mercy toward families in need
1.1 Family and its difficulties
1.2 Mercy and types of poverty
1.3 Acts of physical mercy in Maják nádeje
1.4 Acts of spiritual mercy in Maják nádeje
1.5 Short case studies
1.6 Personal experience with mercy

2 DOM PRE MATKY S DEŤMI V OPOLE
– mercy toward lone mothers and their children
2.1 History of the establishment of the Home
2.2 Conditions for the functioning of the Home
2.3 Principles of how the Home works and mercy shown
2.4 Role of the staff

3 KOMUNITA CENACOLO
– mercy toward the addicted
3.1 Origin and operation of the Cenacolo community
3.2 Pillars of the community: work, relationships, and prayer
3.3 Providence
3.4 A normal day in the Cenacolo community
3.5 Activities of the Cenacolo community
3.6 The Cenacolo community in Slovakia
3.7 Testimonies of Cenacolo community members

4 CENTRUM SOCIÁLNYCH SLUŽIEB „LIPOVÝ DOM“
– mercy toward seniors
4.1 Social service center “Lipový dom”
4.2 Being merciful to seniors
4.3 Selected methods of work with seniors
4.4 Personal experience of CSS Lipový dom staff

5 HOSPIC MATKY TEREZY
– mercy toward the dying
5.1 Characteristics of the Mother Teresa hospice
5.2 The demands of service and obstacles
5.3 Conditions for work with dying people
5.4 What this service gives to those serving
5.5 On volunteer service in the Hospice
5.6 Stories of people – reconciliation in hospice
5.7 For reflection

CONCLUSION

Mercy—an urgent challenge, or even a necessity? Each of us is aware of how dependent we are on God's mercy. Yet we are not always willing to show mercy to those who live next to us. Sometimes we are simply overwhelmed by our own concerns, at other times we do not even know how to serve. Often we are willing, but we cannot find the right way, or the courage.

The aim of the publication was to point out various acts of mercy for different groups of people at different times. The individual chapters are organized by services offered to suffering people. Because we always find the suffering among ourselves. They are the poor, single mothers with children in crisis centers, the sufferers include people addicted to substances, but also elderly and dying people. We did not only focus on descriptions of individual facilities and associations, but especially on the acts of mercy provided in these facilities by both staff and volunteers. Through the individual chapters, the reader gains a picture of service that is shown every day, often in silence, in humility, in routine tasks—but with great love. The chapters are divided thematically by target groups and facilities that show mercy to suffering people in Slovakia and abroad. A particular contribution of the publication is the deep and personal experiences of the authors, who are in practice and therefore gain deeper insight into their service. The personal testimonies of the authors and clients they serve are a source of invaluable experience. They allow us to enter many difficult life stories, full of suffering. We believe that the publication will speak to readers, encourage them, and strengthen them in the conviction that even the smallest acts we do out of love will touch deeply the hearts of suffering people.

Title: MERCY TOWARD THE SUFFERING
Author: Soňa Vancáková and others.

Collective of authors:
Paweł Landwójtowicz
Lucia Szabová
Michal Szabo
Michaela Šuľová
Martina Proněková

Reviewers:
Prof. ThDr. Gabriel Ragan, PhD.
Prof. PhDr. ThDr. Štefan Lenčiš, PhD.

Photographer of the cover: Katarína Vancáková
Graphic design: EQUILIBRIA, s.r.o., Letná 42, 040 01 Košice
Publisher: OZ Maják nádeje, Košice
Printing: EQUILIBRIA, s.r.o., Letná 42, 040 01 Košice
ISBN 978-80-972547-0-4