Today is the optional memorial of one of the most popular saints of our day, St. Faustina. Faustina grew up in Poland. From the age of seven she felt a call to religious life. She asked her parents’ permission for this when she was 18, but they refused. “After this refusal, I turned myself over to the vain things of life, paying no attention to the call of grace, although my soul found no satisfaction in any of these things.”
The Call of Jesus
At a dance she experienced Jesus in a special way: “As I began to dance, I suddenly saw Jesus at my side, Jesus racked with pain, stripped of His clothing, all covered with wounds … At that moment the charming music stopped and the company I was with vanished … there remained Jesus and I. I took a seat by my dear sister, pretending to have a headache.”
She left the dance to go to the nearby cathedral, where she prostrated herself before Jesus in the tabernacle. “Then I heard these words: ‘Go at once to Warsaw; you will enter a convent there.’”
In Warsaw she found lodgings for the first night and went to Mass the next day. She confided in a priest after Mass, who arranged for her to live with a prominent lady of the parish. In the next few days she visited several convents and finally found acceptance at the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.
Faustina spent the rest of her life with these sisters.
Consecrated Life
As you probably know, she experienced visions and revelations from Jesus. The most famous was her vision of Jesus as Divine Mercy. It is the (now) popular image of Jesus with the red and white rays emanating from His heart. Underneath were the great words: ‘Jesus, I trust in You.’
Jesus commanded Faustina to have the image venerated, first in the nuns’ chapel, then throughout the world.
Once Jesus told Faustina: “Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at my insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them, they do not trust Me.”
Certainly Faustina trusted Jesus in a heroic way from the time she was 18, from the time she left her parents’ house for Warsaw with barely any possessions. Thus Jesus entrusted Faustina with the great message of Divine Mercy and the importance of trusting in Him.
Faustina’s Mission
It seems that, as with the mission of the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament, some of Faustina’s mission was fulfilled by other people after she died. This includes the final painting of the image as well as the establishment of a religious community dedicated to the propagation of the devotion.
Faustina died, aged 33, on this day in 1938. She was not happy with the image painted during her lifetime, and in 1943, under the direction of her order and the description she had written, the most well-known version of the image was painted.
In 1955 a Polish bishop established a congregation to spread the message of Divine Mercy. But the main promoters of this devotion remain Sr. Faustina’s order and the Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, who had been founded well before Faustina’s life and revelations.
In 1978 a man devoted to Divine Mercy became pope. John Paul II effectively spread devotion to Divine Mercy throughout the world. He died on the eve of the Sunday of Divine Mercy.
My husband and I visited the National Shrine of Divine Mercy. Memorable visit. Ever since, Divine Mercy chaplet and Saint Faustina are go-to favorites. Thank you Father Mike for Sister Faustina’s story.
Thank you for this, Father Mike! St. Faustina is one of my favorite saints and it’s always beautiful to read her story. Also so worth remembering how the Lord is calling us to trust more in Him, and that our lack of trust causes Him pain.
Just like being at Mass and you explaining about the Saint of the day Thank you.