Saint Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament was born as Helena Kowalska, in Glogowiec, Leczyca County in Poland on August 25, 1905. She was a Roman Catholic nun and mystic. Her apparitions of Jesus Christ inspired the Roman Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of "Secretary of Divine Mercy".
Faustina first felt a calling to the religious life when she was just seven years old, while attending the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. After finishing her schooling, Faustina wanted to immediately join a convent. However, her parents refused to let her.
In 1924, Faustina experienced her first vision of Jesus. While at a dance with her sister, Natalia, she saw a suffering Jesus. According to Faustina, Jesus instructed her to leave for Warsaw immediately and join a convent. She took a train for Warsaw, some 137 km away, without asking her parents' permission and despite the fact that she knew nobody in Warsaw.
When she arrived in Warsaw, she entered Saint James Church, the first church she came across, and attended Mass. Faustina approached many convents in Warsaw, 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 April 30, 1926, at 20-years-old, she received her habit and took the religious name of Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.
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. He asked her to become the apostle and secretary of God's mercy.
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."
It wasn't until three years later, in 1934, that the first painting of the image was created by Eugene Kazimierowski.
On May 1, 1933, Faustina took her final vows in Lagiewniki and became a perpetual sister of Our Lady of Mercy. After taking her vows, she was transferred to Vilnius, where she met Father Michael Sopocko, the appointed confessor to the nuns, who in turn supported her religious efforts.
Father Sopocko encouraged her to keep a diary and to record all of her conversations with Jesus. Faustina told Father Sopocko about the Divine Mercy image and it was he who introduced her to Kazimierowski, the artist of the first Divine Mercy painting.
According to Faustina's diary, on Good Friday, April 19, 1935, Jesus told her that he wanted the Divine Mercy image to be publicly honoured. On April 26, the same year Father Sopocko delivered the very first sermon on the Divine Mercy.
In July 1937, the first holy cards with the Divine Mercy image were created and Faustina provided instructions for the Novena of Divine Mercy, which she reported was a message from Jesus. Throughout the rest of 1937, the Divine Mercy image continued to be promoted and grow in popularity.
By the end of 1937, Faustina's health deteriorated significantly. Her visions intensified and she was said to be looking forward to the end of her life. On October 5, 1938, Faustina passed away. She was buried on October 7, and currently rests at the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Krakow, Poland.
Faustina's special devotion to Mary Immaculate and to the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation gave her the strength to bear all the sufferings as an offering to God on behalf of the Church and those in special need, especially great sinners and the dying.
The message of mercy that Sister Faustina received is now being spread throughout the world; her diary, Divine Mercy in my Soul, has become the handbook for devotion to the Divine Mercy.
Sister Faustina was canonized on April 30, 2000, by Pope St. John Paul II. The Pope died in April 2005, on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, was beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI on Divine Mercy Sunday, 1 May 2011, and was canonized by Pope Francis on Divine Mercy Sunday, 27 April 2014.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Alexander
2. Saint Anna Schaeffer
3. Saint Boniface
4. Saint Flora
5. Saint Placid