By CAROLE BRESLIN
The Divine Mercy Chaplet had never been one of my favorite devotions until my aunt died. As she lay in the hospital during her final hours, I sat in the room, visiting with the endless stream of visitors who stopped in to see their fellow volunteer. By six o’clock, the room was quiet.
I decided to read my book, but the Holy Spirit would have none of that. Concentration eluded me. Then I decided that I would massage my aunt as I said the Divine Mercy chaplet. When I came to the last prayer of the chaplet, my aunt’s heart beat for the last time. From that moment, I became a great promoter of Divine Mercy. It was not me that decided to say the chaplet for her; it was the Holy Spirit.
In 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland. A young man who was studying for the priesthood was forced to work in a factory. The factory was in view of a convent cemetery nearby; our Lord had revealed His message of Divine Mercy to a humble young woman buried there. The young factory worker would eventually spread that message of mercy around the world. His name was Karol Wojtyla.
The young woman came from Glogowiec, Poland, where she was born on August 25, 1905. Her parents, Stanislaus and Marianne Kowalska, named her Helena, the third of their ten children. The members of her family, though rich in piety and spiritual fervor, were peasants.
From an early age, Helena demonstrated a deep love of prayer, compassion for the poor, obedience to her parents and superiors, as well as an admirable work ethic. At the tender age of seven she felt drawn to the religious life. When she received her First Holy Communion at the age of nine, she described how she felt an intense presence of the Divine inside her soul.
She then attended school for three years after which she begged her parents’ permission to join a convent. She honored them even though they refused to allow her to go. In 1921, at the age of 16, Helena left Glogowiec to find work as a housekeeper in order to support herself and help her parents with the expenses of a large family.
Her desire to become a religious never left her, so on August 1, 1925 — just before her 20th birthday — she entered the convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw.
In 1926, Helena received the veil of the sisters as well as her new name: Sr. Maria Faustina. She worked quietly and obediently, fitting in well with the other nuns. She did not show any extraordinary piety or expect any special treatment during this time. Her will was to do God’s will — nothing more and nothing less.
Her childlike trust in the divine Savior developed even further as she continued her life of prayer and contemplation on the mysteries of God’s mercy. In 1928 she professed the evangelical vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience — ones that were already part of her life. She lived in several different convents, helping with the cooking and gardening, and acting as porter.
The simplicity of Faustina was such that she had many visions of Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell, and of Mary and other mystical experiences which her confessor ordered her to write down in her diary. The other nuns did not know of these events, since Faustina never spoke of the favors received nor sought recognition for them.
On February 22, 1931, when Karol Wojtyla was almost 11 years old, our Lord appeared to Faustina in His vision of Divine Mercy. He was clothed in a white robe with his right hand raised, showing the wound from the nail. His left hand was placed near His Sacred Heart from which sprung two rays of light: one white to represent water and one red to represent blood.
Our Lord instructed Sr. Maria Faustina to have the image painted. When she spoke to her spiritual director about it, he told her to paint “in her soul.” However, as she left the confessional our Lord told her He wanted it painted so that the entire world would learn of His Divine Mercy.
Our Lord told Sr. Maria Faustina that if she did not attend to the painting He revealed to her, that she would have to answer for a large number of souls on the day of the Final Judgment.
Who can comprehend the mysteries of Divine Mercy whom we have offended infinitely? His love for mankind comes through Sr. Faustina as she wrote down His words, “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).
On the brink of World War II our Lord opened up His Sacred Heart for the comfort of His suffering people, beginning with Poland. As the Nazi presence in Poland persecuted the Catholics, the future Pope John Paul II learned of Sr. Faustina and the message of Divine Mercy.
The image of Divine Mercy was revealed the first time on April 28, 1935 at a Mass celebrated by Fr. Michael Sopocko, Sr. Faustina’s spiritual director.
Pope John Paul II, now known as “the Mercy Pope,” beatified Sr. Faustina on April 18, 1993. On April 30, 2000 he canonized Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska and at the same time established the Feast of Divine Mercy to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter in the General Roman Calendar.
St. Faustina’s feast day is October 5.
One year later the Pope emphasized the glory of Divine Mercy when he said, “Jesus said to Sr. Faustina, ‘Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy.’ Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.”
Pope John Paul II died on the vigil of Divine Mercy, on April 2, 2005. He was then canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday 2014 by Pope Benedict XVI. Now the two Polish natives who played prominent roles in revealing Christ’s Divine Mercy share the glories of sainthood.
Sr. Faustina’s Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, is highly recommended as is the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Novena of Divine Mercy. The novena begins on Good Friday and concludes with services on Divine Mercy Sunday. A plenary indulgence is attached to the devotion.
My Jesus, I trust in Thee. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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