Saint Faustina Kowalska, also known as Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, was a Polish nun and mystic who is best known for her diary, which details her encounters with Jesus and her devotion to Divine Mercy. She was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 2000, and her feast day is celebrated on October 5th.
St. Faustina Kowalska, born Helena Kowalska on August 25, 1905, in the small village of Głogowiec, Poland, came from a poor but devout Catholic family. She was the third of ten children raised by hardworking parents, Stanisław and Marianna Kowalska. From an early age, Helena demonstrated a deep sense of piety, spending long hours in prayer and attending Mass whenever possible. Despite economic hardships, her spiritual sensitivity grew stronger with each passing year. At just seven years old, she already felt a calling to religious life. However, her path was far from easy. After finishing only three years of schooling, she was forced to work as a housekeeper to help support her family. Her desire to enter the convent met resistance from her parents and challenges due to her lack of education and dowry, but Helena’s trust in God’s will never wavered.
Eventually, on August 1, 1925, at the age of 20, Helena was accepted into the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw. She took the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament. During her time in the convent, she performed humble duties such as cooking, cleaning, and gardening. However, it was within the silence and simplicity of convent life that God began to reveal to her an extraordinary mission. Beginning in 1931, Faustina experienced a series of mystical visions and revelations from Jesus Christ, who entrusted her with the message of Divine Mercy. In one of the most significant apparitions, Jesus appeared to her with rays of red and pale light emanating from His heart and asked her to paint this image with the inscription, “Jesus, I trust in You.” Though she was untrained in art, her spiritual director, Blessed Michał Sopoćko, helped commission the image based on her description. This image would become the iconic symbol of the Divine Mercy devotion.
Sister Faustina meticulously recorded her visions, prayers, and conversations with Jesus in a diary, later published as Divine Mercy in My Soul. Her writings reveal profound spiritual insights, emphasizing God’s infinite mercy and the need for trust, repentance, and forgiveness. Through her diary, Faustina promoted three key forms of the Divine Mercy devotion: the veneration of the Divine Mercy image, the observance of Divine Mercy Sunday (celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter), and the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet—a prayer for God’s mercy on the world. Despite severe health challenges, including tuberculosis, and periods of interior spiritual darkness, Faustina remained steadfast in her mission. Her obedience, humility, and unwavering faith became a beacon of hope to many, especially during the troubled times leading up to World War II. Though her experiences were often misunderstood even within her own community, Faustina endured everything with love and trust in God.
St. Faustina passed away on October 5, 1938, at the age of 33, in the convent of Kraków-Łagiewniki. Her life, though short and hidden from the world, bore spiritual fruit that would span continents. Her canonization by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000, marked the universal recognition of her mission as the “Secretary of Divine Mercy.” On that same day, the Pope also officially established the Feast of Divine Mercy for the universal Church. Today, the message of Divine Mercy continues to inspire millions across the globe—through prayer, devotion, and acts of compassion. St. Faustina’s life story is not only one of mystical experiences but also of radical trust, suffering transformed by love, and a powerful witness to the mercy of God that continues to change lives. Her legacy remains a reminder that even the simplest soul, when surrendered fully to God, can become an instrument of His greatest message of hope.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, 1319)
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world and empty yourself out upon us.
Repeat three times:
(Diary, 84)
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in you!
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
On each "Our Father" bead of the rosary, pray:
V. Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
R. in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On each of the 10 "Hail Mary" beads, pray:
V. For the sake of his sorrowful Passion,
R. have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Repeat three times:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
(Diary, 950)
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
Or:
(Roman Missal, Votive Mass of the Mercy of God)
O God, whose mercies are without number and whose treasure of goodness is infinite, graciously increase the faith of the people consecrated to you, that all may grasp and rightly understand by whose love they have been created, through whose Blood they have been redeemed, and by whose Spirit they have been reborn. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
