Feast of St. Faustina

When this saint was born in Poland on August 25, 1905, her parents named her Helen. In her short life on earth, she carried out the important mission of teaching the world about the mercy of Jesus. From the time she was seven years old, Helen knew she wanted to live a life consecrated to God as a sister. When she was twenty-five, she entered the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, taking the name Sister Faustina.

Her work was simple. She cooked, tended the convent garden, and answered the door. Her kindness, serenity, and spirit of recollection were remarkable. But few people knew the real depths of her spirituality. God blessed Sister Faustina with many extraordinary gifts, including visions, prophecy, and invisible stigmata.

In one of the visions Sister Faustina had, Jesus appeared in a white garment. He raised one hand in blessing and touched his heart with the other. Two rays of light, one red, the other pale, spread out from his heart. The red ray represented the saving blood of Christ; the pale ray stood for the cleansing water of Baptism. Jesus said, “Have an image painted just as you see me, with the words ‘Jesus, I trust in You.’” Jesus told Sister Faustina that the Sunday after Easter was to be the Feast of Divine Mercy.

Sister Faustina kept a diary in which she wrote down everything that Jesus wanted the world to know about his mercy. In it, she wrote about prayer as a loving relationship with God. Jesus told her that she was his secretary. It was her special work to encourage people to trust in the limitless mercy of God.

Jesus promised forgiveness and abundant graces to anyone who would honor the Feast of Divine Mercy. Devotion to Divine Mercy consists in trusting in God’s goodness, loving one’s neighbor, remaining in the state of grace with the help of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and receiving Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday.

After only thirteen years of religious life, Sister Faustina died of tuberculosis on October 5, 1938. She was thirty-three years old. Pope John Paul II declared her a saint on April 30, 2000.