Saint Faustina

Who is she?

Saint Faustina was a sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. She is called the messenger of Divine Mercy, because she helped the whole world know that Jesus is always ready to forgive those who come back to him.

Life story

Her real name was Helena Kowalska. She was born in 1905 in Poland, the third of ten children in a poor farming family. Because the family was poor, Helena went to school for less than three years, and then had to work as a housemaid for other families to help her parents.

From childhood, she wanted to become a sister. In 1925, she was accepted into the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, and the next year she received the religious name Faustina. She did simple jobs: cooking, gardening, minding the door. Few people knew how close she lived to God.

In 1931, she told how Jesus appeared to her, dressed in white, with his hand raised in blessing. From his heart came two rays of light, one red and one pale, recalling the blood and water that flowed from the Lord’s side on the cross (cf. Jn 19:34). The Lord asked her to have this image painted with the words “Jesus, I trust in You.”

At the request of her spiritual director, she wrote these things down in her Diary. In it, she tells how the Lord wants everyone, even the worst sinners, to know that his mercy is greater than any sin. She also wrote down the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which many people still pray today.

She had tuberculosis, a serious lung disease, but she quietly offered her pain as a prayer for sinners. She died on 5 October 1938, only 33 years old.

On 30 April 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized her. That same day, the Pope declared the Second Sunday of Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday for the whole Church.

Why is she a saint?

Saint Faustina lived very humbly and obediently. She trusted God in every situation, even when she was sick and when others misunderstood her. She loved sinners and prayed for them to come back to God.

A lesson for you

• When you do something wrong, be truly sorry and go to Confession, because Jesus is always waiting to welcome you.
• Practice saying to the Lord every day: “Jesus, I trust in You.”
• Forgive the person who made you sad, just as the Lord has forgiven you.