The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska opened hearts
The Rev. Gus Puleo submitted this column prior to his death on April 3, 2024. He served as director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program and the Spanish Department at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where he also taught English and Spanish. He was the former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown. And he will be missed by many.
Sister Faustina’s name is forever linked to the annual feast of Divine Mercy, which is the Sunday after Easter, the Divine Mercy chaplet and the Divine Mercy prayer prayed each day at 3 p.m. by many faithful.
She was the third of 10 children born in Poland with her father as a carpenter and a peasant. Her family was poor, but very religious. At the age of seven she was called to the religious life while attending the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. She wanted to enter the convent as a young girl, but her parents would not give her permission, but rather they wanted her to work as a housekeeper and support the family.
In 1924 at the age of 17 Faustina went to a dance with her sister, Natalia. During the dance Faustina experienced her first vision of Jesus Christ. Faustina saw him suffering and then went to the Cathedral. According to Faustina, Jesus instructed her to leave for Warsaw immediately and join a convent.
When she arrived in Warsaw, she entered Saint James Church, the first church she came across and attended Mass.
While in that city, she approached many different convents, but was turned away each time. She was judged by her appearance and sometimes rejected for her poverty.
Finally, the mother superior of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy decided to take in Faustina on that condition that she pay for her religious habit. Working as a housekeeper, Faustina began to save money and make deposits to the Convent. At the age of 20 she finally received her habit and took the religious name of Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament and in 1928 she took her first religious vows as a nun.
Three years later in 1931 Sister Faustina was visited again by Jesus, who presented himself as the “King of Divine Mercy.” In her diary, Sister Faustina wrote, “In the evening in my cell, I become aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other blue. After a while, Jesus said to me, “paint an image according to the pattern you see with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.”
In the same message Jesus explained that he wanted the Divine Mercy message to be “solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy.” Three years later the picture was painted and Sister Faustina took her final vows and became a perpetual sister of Our Lady of Mercy. Sister Faustina had written in her diary, “Oh incomprehensible in mercy towards the poor soul. I have received this order through him who is for me Your representative on earth, who interprets your holy will to me. Jesus, you see how difficult it is for me to write, but you given the order to write, O God, that is enough for me.”
In 1937 the first holy cards with the Divine Mercy image were created and Sister Faustina provided instructions for the Novena of Divine Mercy, which she reported as a message from Jesus Christ. This image and novena began to become very popular. In late 1937 Sister Faustina fell ill and died on October 5, 1938 at the age of 33. She was buried at the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Krakow, Poland.
Under the obedience of her superiors, beginning in 1934, she diligently wrote down the visions and private revelations in six notebooks. These revelations are now in a single book called The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. In this diary, Saint Faustina articulates how Jesus wants devotion of his Mercy to spread.
The first way is by meditating upon the image of Divine Mercy. This image of Jesus with the two rays of light shining from his heart, one blue and one red, signifying the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. This image was to venerated and honored throughout the world. The goal of praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the second way, is to obtain mercy, trust in Christ’s mercy, and showing mercy to others.
For others the 3 o’clock hour is important, the hour that Jesus died and poured forth his mercy on us. At this time the prayer is recited. Finally, Jesus wanted to raise up apostles of mercy, who both live mercifully toward others and help spread devotion to his Mercy.
In 1965 Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, who would later become Pope John Paul II, opened up the first investigations into the life of Faustina’ life and virtues. He requested that the beatification process to begin.
One of the miracles attributed to Sister Faustina was a woman, Maureen
Digan, of Massachusetts who was cured of lymphedema after praying at Sister Faustina’s tomb.
St. Faustina was beatified in 1993 and canonized in 2000 both by Pope St. John Paul II. She was honored as “the first saint of the new millennium.” Her feast day is October 5th, and she is the patron saint of Mercy. However, she is always remembered on Divine Mercy Sunday, which is the Sunday after Easter.