St. Faustina

St. Faustina Kowalska, the "Apostle of Divine Mercy," was a Polish nun who received private revelations from Jesus and recorded them in her *Diary*. Through her, Jesus gave the Divine Mercy image, the Chaplet and the call for Divine Mercy Sunday. Her feast is October 5.

Her life

Maria Faustina Kowalska was born August 25, 1905, in Głogowiec, Poland, the third of ten children in a poor, devout family. In 1925 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy as Sr. Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter, but her spiritual life was extraordinary, and she recorded Jesus' messages in Divine Mercy in My Soul, her Diary.

The Divine Mercy image

On the evening of February 22, 1931, the First Sunday of Lent, Jesus asked her to have an image painted as he appeared: with red and white rays streaming from his heart and the inscription "Jesus, I trust in You." The rays represent the blood and water from his side, symbolizing the Eucharist and Baptism. Jesus promised great graces to those who venerate it. She also recorded miracles, such as bilocating to the bedside of a dying, tormented man and praying the Chaplet until he found peace with God.

The Chaplet and the Hour of Mercy

Jesus gave her the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, prayed on rosary beads for mercy on ourselves and the world. He told her his Heart overflows with mercy, especially for poor sinners (Diary 367). It is traditionally prayed at 3 p.m., the hour he died, when, he said, he will refuse nothing asked in virtue of his Passion (Diary 1320). The Divine Mercy Novena is especially prayed from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter.

Death and canonization

She died October 5, 1938, at thirty-three. St. John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and canonized her on April 30, 2000, the first saint of the new millennium, proclaiming the Sunday after Easter Divine Mercy Sunday as Jesus had asked. She is the patron of mercy.

The Diary

The Diary records her reflections, visions and conversations with Jesus, who said he was sending her with his mercy to the whole world (Diary 1588; see John 3:16-17). It is best read prayerfully in small sections. "The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to my mercy" (Diary 723) sums up her mission: to bring souls to the heart of Jesus. Miracles are attributed to her intercession, such as a child healed after doctors had given up, when the family prayed the Chaplet.