By Andrew Winter
1.
Divine Mercy (or the Divine Mercy) refers to the infinite mercy of God for mankind; but specifically, Divine Mercy is a special form of devotion to Jesus, the “face of the Father’s Mercy.” Jesus revealed this devotion to His Divine Mercy to St. Faustina Kowalska in 1931.
2.
Helen Kowalska was born in Poland in 1905. She was the third of 10 children, and joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1926, after hearing God telling her to enter a convent. She took the name Faustina, made her perpetual vows in 1933, and died in 1938 at age 33.
3.
The devotion to Divine Mercy finds its origin in the Gospels, as well as the visions of Sr. Faustina. Jesus in the Gospel of Luke reads from Isaiah: “He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19) Perhaps the strongest testament to God’s Divine Mercy is the famous John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.” Jesus’ apparitions to Faustina highlight and build up this central message of the Gospels.
4.
Jesus first appeared to Sister Faustina in 1931, when He revealed Himself as the Divine Mercy, and asked her to paint an image of Him as He appeared to her that day. He also asked her to institute a feast of Divine Mercy.
5.
Pope John Paul II, great advocate of Divine Mercy, canonized Sister Faustina in 2000, and in his homily at the canonization Mass proclaimed that the second Sunday of Easter would henceforth be Divine Mercy Sunday. This feast was celebrated for the first time in 2001.
6.
Perhaps the most famous aspect of the devotion to Divine Mercy is the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a prayer similar to but shorter than the Rosary. Jesus gave this prayer to Faustina in a 1935 vision, and notably the Chaplet ends with the Trisagion (Thrice Holy), a prayer which until that time mostly appeared only in Eastern Catholic and Orthodox devotions.
7.
The Divine Mercy image (above) is a representation of Jesus as Faustina saw Him in 1931, painted by Eugene Kazimierowski. In His revelations to her about the image, Jesus said: “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish.”
8.
Sr. Faustina wrote down the record of her visions and conversations with Jesus in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. This book is full of the beautiful words of Christ: “My child, life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for My kingdom. But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing. Take the vessel of trust and draw from the fountain of life.” (Diary, 1488)
9.
In 1980, John Paul II wrote his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy) about Divine Mercy. He did not mention Faustina or her visions directly, but he had already studied her life and writings, and had her fully in mind as he wrote. A year after he published this encyclical he said: “Right from the beginning of my ministry in St. Peter’s See in Rome, I considered this message my special task.” John Paul II is, in a way, the second saint of Divine Mercy.
