On Sunday afternoons Father would take out the Lives of the Saints from the bookcase and read in the family circle. Macarius the Great was a disciple of Anthony. But yet again she was overwhelmed by such darkness that she returned to Mother Generals room to tell her of her tribulation and struggle. It was a picture with a new content, he recalled, and that is why I could not display it in a church without permission from the Archbishop, whom I was embarrassed to ask or, even more, to explain its origins. But Sister Faustina, urged on by Jesus, demanded it be put up in church. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000. The Novice Mistress thorough training and personal experience gave her the confidence to lead the novices into the spiritual life, teaching them to know God more profoundly, to pray and practise the ascetic life, so that their piety should not be emotional and soft but thorough, and bring them to an ever deeper union with God through obedience, humility, a self-sacrificing love of their neighbours and a zeal for the salvation of the souls entrusted to the Congregations apostolic care. But already in April she suffered a relapse. Through the many visions that she had, she was able to grow and nourish her love for Christ in the Eucharist. Sister Faustina fulfilled this mission not only by the witness of her own life and the writing of her diary, in which she revealed Gods extraordinary merciful love for each human being, but also through her everyday relations with her neighbours. The sisters went down to the evening service. I got in touch with Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, an artist who lived in the same house as I and undertook to paint the picture, and with Mother Superior, who allowed Sister Faustina to visit him twice a week to instruct him on the details of the painting., The painting of the first picture of the Merciful Jesus started very discreetly at the beginning of January 1934. After all, she lived in a convent and was only a simple nun performing prosaic duties; she had neither extensive relations with other people nor any opportunities to disseminate this message in the world at large. Maria Faustyna Kowalska, OLM (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 - 5 October 1938 [1] ), also known as Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, was a Polish Catholic religious sister and mystic. Whenever I left the house Mrs. Sadowska said of her maid years later I could rest assured. Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize my unfathomable mercy. We were sitting on a bench and she came up from behind, put her arms around our shoulders and put her head between our heads. She is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as a saint, and is known as the Apostle of Divine Mercy. Like the biblical prophets, she started enumerating her inadequacies and excusing herself that she was not capable of accomplishing this work. The same ceremony was being held in Rome in a beautiful church, and the Holy Father and all the clergy were celebrating it; and suddenly I saw St. Peter standing between the altar and the Holy Father. Your email address will not be published. Towards the end of my first year in the novitiate she recorded in her diary it began to grow dark in my soul. Although the first and only apparition in Poland to Saint Faustina of Jesus as the Image of Divine Mercy, occurred on February 22, 1931 in Plock, Saint Faustina had several apparitions of Jesus as Divine Mercy in Vilnius, where she lived in a convent house where she was sent by the superiors of her religious community. The crowds were so huge that I couldnt see an end to them. that it is good for that person from the perspective of eternity. Word went round in the Pock convent that Sister Faustina had had a vision. At the age of nine, she made her first Holy Communion. To each of these forms of worship, as well as to the preaching of the message of Mercy, He attached great promises, on condition that we care about the attitude of trust in God that is to fulfill His will and show mercy to our neighbours. Faustina's message reverberated in St. John Paul II's heart. But Helenka felt her heart was so big that no human love would satisfy it. It was in the convent at Pock, where Sister Faustina arrived in the May or June of 1930, that her great prophetic mission was to begin. Saint Faustina Kowalska, an apostle of the Divine Mercy, belongs today to the group of the most popular and well-known saints of the. The doctor said it was very bad. A sick man lived in a lumber room under the stairs in the house. At the hospital she experienced a lot of extraordinary graces. She memorised the stories of the hermits and missionaries, and the next day while out grazing the cattle would recite them word for word to us and others. This happened on several occasions, when a relative or one of the sisters, or even someone she had never known was dying. It is continuing and bringing forth wondrous fruit. I promise that the soul that venerates this picture shall not perish. Helenka looked after her employers children and also after those in need, of whom there was no shortage. This proved such an encouragement that it seemed to her nothing would be too difficult, and in an inner act she agreed to carry out Gods will although she knew it would mean great suffering for her. The Chaplet to the Divine Mercy is recited even in obscure languages, and the prayer at the hour of Jesus death on the cross, the Hour of Mercy, is becoming more and more popular. I didnt understand any of the things my confessor said to me. Mother General Michaela Moraczewska visited all the Congregations houses and spoke on the great mission for which God had chosen Sister Faustina. In the Cracovian convent Sister Faustina received the rest of the prophetic mission. Since that moment I have had a little cell in my heart, in which I have always dwelled with Jesus. Helenka went into service again, this time in d. On her return from hospital (17 September 1938) Sister Faustina waited in the convents infirmary for the moment of her passage from this world to the Fathers House. Known as the apostle of divine mercy, St. Faustina Kowalska brought the message of God's . That is how Sister Faustinas hospital ministry for the dying started. Mummy served customers in the shop he recalled years later and Helenka tidied up, helped with the cooking, and had to wash up, carry out the refuse and bring water as there was no running water. During that ceremony, held in the Jubilee Year, the Holy Father founded the Feast of Divine Mercy for the entire Church and passed on to the world the prophetic mission of Mercy for the third millennium of faith. 30 on Parzczewska St. (now 1 Maja 7 St.) and they needed help with the housework and looking after their only son Zenek. She fetched her rosary, knelt by the dying persons bedside and started saying the Chaplet with all the powers of her spirit, asking Jesus to fulfil the promise He had made regarding the Chaplet. He was born on November 11, 1873. So she did not turn down an invitation to a dance in the Wenecja Park. Jesus request that she proclaim His Mercy to the world occurs time and again throughout the diary. But Sister Faustina was not pleased, although the artist and Father Sopoko did all they could to render as faithful an image of Jesus as possible. She said that she would soon die and that she had finished all she had had to write and pass on. Finally she came to the house of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. At this time Sister Faustina often spoke of Gods mercy, Sister Szymona Nalewajk recollects, while I would challenge her and stress His justice. She always used to say, 'Come in, please, but this time there was no answer though I knocked and knocked. She told Sister Boenna Pniewska, who regretted that the agiewniki chapel was available only for the sisters and their charges, There will soon come a time when the convent gate will be wide open and people will come here to pray to the Divine Mercy. The Roman Catholic devotion and venerated image under this Christological title refers to what Faustina's diary describes as "God's loving mercy". The family was not well off, so like her older sisters she went into domestic service. It happened one day during the octave of Corpus Christi she recorded the most important event of her time at Ostrwek in her diary God filled my soul with an inner light enabling me to come to know Him as the Supreme Good and Beauty. On arriving in Krakw she met with Father Andrasz, who advised her to keep praying and exercising acts of self-mortification until the Feast of the Sacred Heart, when he would give her an answer to this question. This task was of special importance, since Jesus attached such great promises to it. At night the whole family would kneel for evening prayers, in May they would sing the Loreto Litany in front of the outdoor chapel outside the house, and in October recite the rosary. After a brief stay in Warsaw in the ytnia and at Grochw, she was again sent off to Pock, and from there for a short time to Biaa, an agricultural colony of the Pock house. The Mercy picture had been put up for public worship in the most important place in the whole of Vilnius, the Shrine of Our Lady of Ostra Brama and on that day which Jesus pointed out as the Feast of Mercy. The last time I visited her, on 26 September in the agiewniki Convent, she did not want to talk to me, or perhaps she couldnt any longer, saying she was in communion with the Heavenly Father. She was baptized with the name Helena Kowalska in their parish church. The over eightmonth period of illness and two spells in Prdnik Hospital was a good time for writing, and a major part of her spiritual writings was done in Krakw. The second hue would be the active congregations, which would combine prayer with acts of mercy and make the merciful love of God present in an egoistic world. Mankind shall not find peace and contentment until it turns with trust unto My mercy (Diary 300), He told Sister Faustina. Yet, I decided to bear it all quietly, and not to answer questions. And Jesus said: I shall treat every soul that says this Chaplet as My glory, and I shall grant it My defence at the hour of death; also those at whose deathbed others say the Chaplet shall be granted the same indulgence. Sister Eufemia wanted to see how saints die, but she could not exactly count on her superior granting her permission to attend a sister dying of tuberculosis. Nevertheless, my confessor did not allow me to miss a single Holy Communion. Since our ceremony was so closely linked with Rome, I dont exactly know how to distinguish [between the two ceremonies], but thats what I saw and thats what Im writing. He reminded Sister Faustina that He wanted it celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, for souls were still being lost despite His bitter Passion. There will be a Feast of Divine Mercy, I see it, all I want is to do Gods will, she told Mother Superior. Sister Faustina died in Krakow on October 5, 1938, at the age of just thirtythree. When all the opinions, including a psychiatric examination carried out by Dr. Helena Maciejewska, turned out in Sister Faustinas favour, Father Sopoko still deferred for some time. Her awareness of the presence of God in her soul could be observed already in childhood, and grew throughout her life, just as did her responsiveness to the needs of others. Shortly before she died she sat up in bed and asked Mother Superior to come up closer. Spreading of Devotion to The Divine Mercy, Plenary Indulgence for the Feast of Mercy, In Theology Moral Qualification of aHuman Act, In the School ofSt.Faustina andJohnPaul II, History of the Devotion to The Divine Mercy, The Knowledge of the Mystery of Divine Mercy, The Contemplation of Divine Mercy in Everyday Life, The Apostolic Movement of The Divine Mercy, Prayer through the Intercession of St. Faustina, Superior General, Mother Michaela Moraczewska, Churches dedicated in honor of St. Faustina, Let us know about a church or chapel of St. Faustina, Let us know about another St. Faustina patronage activity, Shrine of Divine Mercy in Cracow-Lagiewniki, Chapel of the miraculous image of the Merciful Jesus and the tomb of St. Faustina, Shrine of the Birth and Baptism of St. Faustina in Swinice Warckie, Family Home of Saint Faustina in Gogowiec, Convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Center of Divine Mercy Spirituality in Rome, The Rome House of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Let us know about another Shrine of Divine Mercy. From a very tender age she stood out . He said, When they say this Chaplet, it will please Me to grant everything they shall ask for (Diary 1541). I want a Feast of Mercy. After a few months, in June 1934, the work on the painting was drawing to a close. My mission will not end at my death. Sister Faustina Kowalska is one of the Church's most popular and widely known saints and the greatest mystics in the history of . He promised special graces to priests who preached the truth of Gods merciful love for mankind. I thought she must be in her room and lying in bed, as she was ill, so I opened the door and went in. Right at that moment, I was transfixed by the Divine light, and I felt I belonged solely to God; and I experienced supreme spiritual freedom, such as I had never had any idea of before (Diary 1681). But as she left the confessional Jesus explained, My image is in your soul. The superior of the house, Mother Irena Krzyanowska, like to visit her there, and observed Sister Faustinas great calm and a strange charm about her. And you could always observe a childlike joy on her face. Join the "Apostle of Mercy" as you prepare for Christ's birth! Just as the astounding revelations on the Divine Mercy entrusted by Jesus to St. Faustina constitute God's final effort of salvation . She commuted into Warsaw from Ostrwek looking for a convent which would take her but she was turned down wherever she knocked to the gate. Diary of St. Faustina. She told us children that when she grew up she would enter a convent, but we laughed. Father gave a detailed answer to all my questions. I looked at Sister Amelia but said nothing. Sister Faustinas principal task was to pass on to the Church and world the Message of Mercy, a recapitulation of the Biblical truth of Gods Merciful Love for every human being, and a calling to each of us to entrust our lives to Him and to actively love our neighbour. That was St. Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Divine Mercy revelations, who was canonized in 2000 and whose revelations were celebrated Sunday. I gave her the prayers and said good-bye, and she said, 'See you in heaven. Sister Faustina is one of the Churchs most popular and widely known saints and the greatest mystics in the history of the Church. They were all taking part in the ceremony with great joy, and many received what they had asked for. By her bedside were the chaplain, Father Teodor Czaputa and Mother Superior Irena Krzyanowska, while the rest of the Sisters stood in the corridor. The flames of mercy are burning Me; I want to pour them out onto human souls. At Skolimw she asked Jesus whom she should pray for. Soon afterwards I heard that this triduum was indeed to be celebrated Father Sopoko wrote and Canon Stanisaw Zawadzki, parish priest of Ostra Brama, invited me to deliver a sermon. Delivery: Estimated between Thu, Jan 26 and Mon, Jan 30 to 98837. . This argument and their childs happiness persuaded her parents and from then on they had no further objections to her life in the convent. They found her full of joy and happiness. The other nuns in the community became sceptical with respect to her. Sister Faustina wished a priest would come and resolve the question definitively and just say, rest assured, you are on the right road, or reject it all, for it does not come from God (Diary 127). She continued to make entries in her diary almost to the end of June. She prayed to the souls in purgatory to wake her when the time came for Sister Faustina to die. She died on Oct. 5, 1938, after being chosen by Jesus and Mary to become the unlikely apostle of the Divine Mercy. Thanks to a satellite television link religious and lay pilgrims gathered in the agiewniki Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakw could participate in the ceremony. She didn't plan to become a nun. The Lord granted me understanding of the things of God (Diary 1404). Nonetheless, the suffering was becoming more and more intense. Finally, as he later disclosed, More out of curiosity rather than conviction as to the authenticity of Sister Faustinas visions, I decided to have the picture painted. Then in my soul I heard these words, This is My faithful servant; he will help you carry out My will here on Earth. (Diary 263). When a friend asked her why she was walking alone, not with the other girls, she said, Im not alone, Im walking with Jesus. She experienced also many extraordinary graces such as: apparitions, ecstasies, the gift of bilocation, hidden stigmata, reading into human souls, the mystical betrothal and nuptials. Mother Superior Irena Krzyanowska wrote, So as not to attract other sisters attention to Sister Faustinas inner experiences, every Saturday morning I would go with her to Holy Mass at Ostra Brama, and afterwards we would visit the artist, who was given detailed instructions by Sister Faustina how to paint the picture of the Merciful Jesus. Not only did she notice them, but she would also think of ways to help them. What can you do about it?, 'Well, said Sister Faustina, 'if you have a yard then what with walking across it all week itll get dirty, but come Saturday you sweep it and clean it up and its spotless. He couldnt quite believe it all and make up his mind; he prayed and while keeping the particulars of the visions and penitent fully confidential sought the advice of knowledgeable priests. Purified in the passive nights, the powers of her soul no longer put up any opposition: her reason and will longed only for God and whatever He longed for. 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