St. Faustina; Messenger of Divine Mercy

As we celebrate the Orthodox Easter, we should remember a stalwart champion of the Rosary; St. Faustina Kowalska.  Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament was born as Helena Kowalska, in Glogowiec, Leczyca County, north-west of Lódz in Poland on August 25, 1905. She was the third of 10 children to a poor and religious family.  In 1924, Faustina experienced her first vision of Jesus. While at a dance with her sister, Natalia, Faustina saw a suffering Jesus and then went to a Cathedral. According to Faustina, Jesus instructed her to leave for Warsaw immediately and join a convent.  Faustina packed her bags at once and departed the following morning. When she arrived in Warsaw, she entered Saint James Church in Warsaw, the first church she came across, and attended Mass. While in Warsaw, Faustina approached many different convents, but was turned away every time. She was judged on her appearances and sometimes rejected for poverty. 

Finally, the mother superior for the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy decided to take in Faustina on the condition that she could pay for her own religious habit. Working as a housekeeper, Faustina began to save her money and make deposits to the Convent.

On April 30, 1926, at 20-years-old, she finally received her habit and took the religious name of Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament and in 1928, she took her first religious vows as a nun. Over the next year, Faustina traveled convents as a cook. In May 1930 she arrived in Plock, Poland. Soon after, she began to show the first signs of her illness and was sent away to rest. Several months later, Faustina returned to the convent.  On February 22, 1931, Faustina was visited by Jesus, who presented himself as the "King of Divine Mercy" wearing a white garment with red and pale rays coming from his heart. She was asked to become the apostle and secretary of God's mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for reemphasizing God's plan of mercy for the world. 

In her diary, Faustina writes:

"In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, 'paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'"  Faustina also describes during that same message, Jesus explained he wanted the Divine Mercy image to be "solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy."  Faustina, not knowing how to paint, asked around her Plock convent for help but was denied. It wasn't until three years later, in 1934, that the first painting of the image was created by Eugene Kazimierowski.

I her diary, Faustina writes that Our Lord came to her and said,  "In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart" (Diary, 1588).  Furthermore, she saw her calling in a specific light.  As an apostle of mercy, her mission was to:

1) remind the world of the great mercy of God as revealed in Sacred Scripture,
2) teach us new prayers of devotion to The Divine Mercy, and
3) initiate a movement of apostles of The Divine Mercy who would lead others toward Him in the spirit of a childlike trust and confidence in God, and love of neighbor as expressed in spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

In 1936 Faustina fell ill. For several years she was ill with advanced tuberculosis, suffering from much pain and fatigue. Her simple life taught us much about following in Jesus' footsteps. After much suffering, she died on October 5, 1938, at the young age of thirty-three.  St. Faustina Kowalska was beatified on April 18, 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000, both by Pope St. John Paul II. Her feast day is celebrated on October 5 and she is the patron saint of Mercy.

Although she had a close relationship with Jesus, Faustina loved Our Mother, Mary, and Her Rosary. She, famously, said;

“To give worthy praise to the Lord’s mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us.”

According to Church historians, her willingness to listen to the Mother of God reveals St. Faustina's simple and childlike faith.

  When we pray the Rosary, we can see where St. Faustina learned such faith: from Mary, herself, particularly at the Annunciation. Because of her faith and trust in accepting the message from the Holy Spirit, Mary obtained mercy for all of us in an exceptional way. This is especially evident because she was preserved from the stain of original sin, endowed with tremendous grace and raised to the dignity of the Mother of Jesus, the Incarnate Word. Through Mary, Mercy came into the world. Mercy is not only an unmerited grace we receive (and, hopefully, share with others). Mercy is a person. And His name is Jesus.

Saint Faustina, no doubt, also learned of Mary's obedience through meditating on the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. Through them, we see that by the sacrifice of what she held dearest to her heart, Mary shares in revealing God's mercy. She stood on Calvary at the foot of the cross of her Son. Consequently, she has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God's mercy. She knows its price and how it continues to be a great and precious gift of God. Mary did not shrink from Calvary, but maintained her Motherly role until the end.

Saint Faustina integrated her awareness of Jesus and Mary; the two were inseparable in her perception. Consequently, Mary shares in the salvific mission of Jesus. In several recorded apparitions, the Blessed Mother was entirely focused on Jesus and often was seen with Him, or showed herself as the One who leads to Him (see Diary, 608, 846.)  The message of Faustina should resonate loudly today, as the consecration of Russia has just been completed.  She shows us that we can worship Jesus through Mary, His Mother.