“Love endures everything, love is stronger than death, love fears nothing” – Saint Faustina Kowalska
Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska was a Catholic nun born in Glogowiec, Poland, on August 25, 1905. Baptized initially as Helena Kowalska, she came from a poor family of peasants.
From an early age, Faustina wanted to live a life devoted to God and religion, trying to enter a convent when she finished school, which was denied by her parents at that time. She decided then to work as a housekeeper to support her parents.
After experiencing her first vision of Jesus, Faustina finally joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925, in Warsaw, where she worked and lived for 13 years in different houses. She changed her initial name to Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament, taking as well her first religious vows to become a nun in 1928.
It was in February 1931 when Faustina received the message from Jesus, asking her to spread the Divine Mercy message to humanity, the request to celebrate the Feast of Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter, and to paint an image of her visions with the dedication: “Jesus I trust in you”.
A few years later and after taking her final vows, she was sent to Vilnius, Lithuania, where she lived from 1933 to 1936. In Vilnius, she met Fr Michael Sopocko, Faustina’s confessor, who inspired her to record her revelations and visions in a diary she named “Divine Mercy in My Soul”. Today, this diary has been translated into more than 20 different languages.
At that time, Fr Michael Sopocko introduced Faustina to the artist Eugene Kazimierowski, who painted the original image of the Divine Mercy, following the guidelines of Saint Faustina’s visions.
Today, visitors can find this original image at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Vilnius.
In 1935, she received a message from Jesus where she was told to recite and pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, writing this revelation in her diary.
Faustina went back to Warsaw, where she spent the rest of her time in prayer and receiving messages from Jesus, including the Divine Mercy Novena.
Afflicted with tuberculosis and many health sufferings, she died in Krakow on October 5, 1938. She was canonized in 2000 by pope John Paul II.
Pilgrims and visitors can find Saint Faustina’s remains at The Lagiewniki Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy in Krakow.
The Saint not only had a significant connection to God but also a great interior spiritual life which she demonstrated throughout her entire life, manifesting kindness, and love towards others.
Faustina Kowalska is honored today, as the Apostle and “Secretary” of the Divine Mercy with her feast celebrated on the 5th of October.
The Divine Mercy Message
The Divine Mercy Message, recorded in Faustina’s diary, tells us how great God Mercy is. The Divine Mercy requires us to approach God in prayer and ask for His Mercy, be merciful, love and forgive others and fully trust in Jesus to receive His Mercy.
With the help of Fr. Michael Sopocko, the Marians of the Immaculate Conception and many others, Faustina could spread the Divine Mercy Message to the world.
For more information about Saint Faustina Kowalska and the Divine Mercy Message visit: HERE
Stay tune for future updates about our Divine Mercy Pilgrimage
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