Every October 5, the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a nun and mystic born in Poland. She maintained a mystical dialogue with Jesus that inspired and shaped the widespread devotion to Divine Mercy. For this reason, she holds the title of “Apostle of Divine Mercy” (Saint John Paul II).
“To the souls who spread devotion to my mercy, I protect them during their life like a loving mother to her newborn child and at the hour of death I will not be the judge for them, but the Merciful Savior,” the Lord Jesus told him. to your servant, Saint Faustina.
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And, “isn’t mercy a ‘second name’ of love?”, asked Saint John Paul II, and added: “Humanity must be inspired by this love today to face the crisis of meaning, the challenges of needs. more diverse and, above all, the demand to safeguard the dignity of every human person. Thus, the message of divine mercy is, implicitly, also a message about the value of every man. Every person is valuable in the eyes of God, Christ gave his life for each one, and to everyone the Father grants his Spirit and offers access to his intimacy” (Saint John Paul II, Homily for the canonization Mass of Blessed Maria Faustina Kowalska).
A simple and loving girl
Helena Kowalska – the given name of Saint Faustina – was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1905. From a young age she showed a special sensitivity to spiritual matters, something that her parents – pious and disciplined Catholics – helped to forge.
The day she received her First Communion, Faustina was so moved by the gift she had received that she expressed her gratitude by kissing her parents’ hands, thanking them for raising her in the love of Christ, and asking for forgiveness for having offended them.
Helena was the third of eight siblings. This quickly forced her to learn to take care of her younger siblings and help with household chores. At home, he was either helping his mother in the kitchen or taking care of his siblings; In the stable, he was busy milking the cows. He attended school, but was only able to complete the first three years of study because the Kowalskas did not have enough money to pay for his education.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9, 62)
At the age of 15 he began to have concerns about religious life. However, she knew that she would not be accepted into a convent without having some money. Therefore, she began working as a domestic worker to help herself financially and, at the same time, support her family.
When she told her parents of her desire to be a nun, they opposed it. That discouraged her for a while, until one day, while praying, she felt Jesus asking her to leave everything and go to Warsaw. Once there she could be accepted into one of the orders whose convents were in that city.
Almost without saying goodbye to her parents, she traveled to the Polish capital with only the dress she was wearing and a few minimal belongings. In Warsaw he contacted a priest, who arranged accommodation for him with a friendly family. Later, she returned to work as a domestic worker to ensure her support. This was a period of great uncertainty for her, in which she felt strongly tested, given that no religious community wanted to welcome her despite her insistence.
“I have prepared for you, thank you very much.”
Finally, Faustina was received at the Mother House of the congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The young girl experienced such joy at finally seeing herself welcomed that she felt her heart burning with gratitude. His biggest dream was beginning to come true. Unfortunately this would not last too long. Only a few weeks after being accepted, she faced the temptation to leave the convent for the first time. He didn’t quite understand what was happening to him and why his heart was troubled and saddened.
One of his first visions dates back to those days: he saw that Jesus appeared to him with a broken face and covered in sores. She then asked: “Jesus, who hurt you so much?” To which He replied: “This is the pain that you would cause me if you left this convent. It is here where I have called you and not another; and I have prepared many graces for you” (Diary19).
Faustina then understood what God wanted from her. She remained firm and gave up the idea of leaving the convent; and rather he began to fall in love with the life he was finding there. Thus, time passed, the novitiate came, the reception of the habit and the first vows. Finally, the consecration in perpetuity would come – the name ‘Helena’ would change to ‘Faustina’.
Intense years would come, lived with simplicity, with a vocation for service. Faustina would hold various positions in the convent and perform different jobs: she was cook, gardener and doorkeeper. At the same time, without giving the slightest sign of affectation or drama, Faustina led an intense spiritual life, marked by mystical experiences that made her a spokesperson for Christ, whose suffering continues for centuries because of the sin of men.
Divine Mercy
To this humble woman – pious, joyful and charitable – God had chosen to reveal himself in a particular way: Jesus appeared to her on numerous occasions with the intention of showing her his merciful love for humanity, an actualization of that love that led him to the cross
From those mystical visions comes the image of Divine Mercy that is popularly known. In this you can see Jesus dressed in white, looking straight ahead, showing his heart, from which white and red rays of light emanate (those beams of light respectively represent the water and blood that flowed from the heart of Christ when he was pierced by the spear of the Roman centurion on Golgotha). That image is nothing more than the pictorial representation of how Saint Faustina saw the Lord (vision of Jesus of Nazareth that occurred on February 22, 1931). To this, later, the expression “Jesus, I trust in you” was added at the express request of the Lord.
Jesus chose Sister Faustina as “secretary” to transmit this message to the world: “In the Old Testament,” he told her, “I sent the prophets with thunder to my people. Today I send you to all humanity with my mercy. “I do not want to punish suffering humanity, but I wish to heal it, embrace it with my merciful Heart” (Diary1588). His mystical memoirs, written at the request of his confessors, are gathered in his Daily, Divine Mercy in my soul.
The Crown
Faustina received many other extraordinary graces – the hidden stigmata, the gift of prophecy, as well as numerous particular revelations such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as a path of prayer. She always welcomed these favors with the awareness that they were undeserved:
“Neither graces nor revelations, nor ecstasies, nor any other gift granted to the soul make it perfect, but the interior communion of the soul with God… My holiness and perfection consist in a close union of my will with the will of God” (Diary1107).
Death and canonization
On October 5, 1938, at the age of 33, after a period of suffering virtuously endured, the saint was called to the Father’s House.
In 2000, Faustina was canonized by her compatriot, Pope Saint John Paul II, who established that the second Sunday of Easter is the “Sunday of Divine Mercy”; and her festival is celebrated every October 5, remembering the day of the saint’s final transit.
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