Jesus said...

"Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I Trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and throughout the whole world." (Diary 47)

"I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory." (Diary 48)

"From all My wounds, like from streams, mercy flows for souls, but the wound in My Heart is the fountain of unfathomable mercy. From this fountain spring all graces for souls. The flames of compassion burn Me. I desire greatly to pour them out upon souls. Speak to the whole world about My mercy." (Diary 1190)

"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. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these (gifts)." (Diary 50) 

"...I am more generous toward sinners than toward the just. It was for their sake that I came down from heaven; it was for their sake that My Blood spilled. Let them not fear to approach Me; they are most in need of My mercy." (Diary 1275)

"Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart...when will it beat for Me? ... I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all my graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want." (Diary 1728)

A Brief History

St Maria Faustina, was born in Poland to a humble but pious family of 10 children. She was baptized Helena Kowalska and grew up with barely three years of education. When she was twenty years of age she entered the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy where she began her journey as Jesus’ Apostle of Divine Mercy. Her convent life was filled with spiritual encounters with Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother through visions and inner locutions which she depicted in her Diary, Divine Mercy In My Soul. In the Diary, she reveals deep spiritual insights and talks about a relationship with the Angels and Holy Souls in Purgatory. She also shares experiences with dying persons, how she assisted at their bedside, at times through bilocation, and unceasingly prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet as they died peacefully.

The Divine Mercy Devotion grew while St Faustina was still alive and a year after her death, World War II struck. Stories of miracles were spread as devotees survived the torments and destruction brought about by the war. While major cities in Poland suffered, Vilno and Cracow, where the Devotion originated from, were spared from destruction. It is believed that refugees from this terrible war were instrumental in spreading The Divine Mercy Devotion to other parts of the world.

Just as St Faustina had predicted the Second World War, she prophesied that the Devotion "will be as though utterly undone. And then God will act with great power, which will give evidence of its authenticity. It will be a new splendor for the Church, although it has been dormant in it from long ago.” (Diary 378) This actually happened in 1958 when the Church banned the spreading of any material relating to the Devotion due to inaccurate interpretations of St Faustina’s revelations. After twenty years, the Holy See lifted the ban through the intervention of Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Cracow, who was then completing St Faustina’s Cause for Beatification. Six months later, Cardinal Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II.

On April 30, 2000 Pope John Paul II canonized St Maria Faustina as the First Saint of the Millennium. On this same day, he declared, “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the Word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.”