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As we deepen our relationship with the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, we grow in grace and are transformed by His love and mercy.
August 25, 1905–October 5, 1938
Patron Saint of Divine Mercy devotion and those seeking God’s mercy
St. Faustina Kowalska is known throughout the world as the Apostle of Divine Mercy. Through her simple faith, humble service, and extraordinary mystical experiences, she became the instrument through whom Jesus renewed devotion to His boundless mercy for all humanity.
Born Helena Kowalska in 1905 in the small village of Głogowiec, Poland, she was the third of ten children in a poor but devout Catholic family. From an early age, she felt called to religious life. Lacking the finances and her parents’ approval to enter the convent.
One day, she received an urgent message through a vision telling her to go to Warsaw and present herself for admission to the convent. She entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw in 1925, taking the religious name Sister Maria Faustina.
She spent most of her religious life performing ordinary duties as a cook, gardener, and porter. Behind this hidden life, however, God entrusted her with an extraordinary mission. Five years after becoming a nun, Jesus appeared to Faustina on numerous occasions, asking her to proclaim His message that everyone who turned to Him in trust would receive His mercy.
While mystical experiences continued until her death, Faustina never saw them as signs of sanctity. She wrote, “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God.”
Jesus requested that she record their conversations, which were later published as a book titled Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska.
Debilitated by tuberculosis, Faustina offered her sufferings for the salvation of souls. She died on October 5, 1938, at just 33 years of age.
Pope St. John Paul II, a fellow native of Poland, canonized St. Faustina in 2000.
Faustina’s diary, written in the Polish language, was inaccurately translated into Italian. These faulty, unauthorized translations of her spiritual diary were sent to Rome and contained errors that led the Holy See to view her writings as doctrinally suspect, resulting in a temporary ban in 1959. The suppression lasted for 20 years. The ban was eventually lifted when it was discovered that the Vatican-evaluated copies of the Italian translations did not accurately reflect Faustina’s original writings. The future Pope John Paul II initiated a fresh theological investigation. He submitted more accurate translations and an extensive defense of the message to the Vatican. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith officially reversed the ban in 1978.
Faustina’s life changed in profound ways when she began receiving visions of Jesus. Despite experiencing mystical visions and internal conversations with Jesus, she continued performing her routine domestic chores. During that time, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Initially, she hesitated to share her experiences and questioned her worthiness. In addition, an inadequate education made it difficult for her to write about her experiences, yet she obeyed requests from Jesus, her confessors, and her spiritual director to record her mystical experiences, submitting her writings when requested. Diligently maintaining her diary through her illness and emotional isolation, she spent her final years filling up notebooks that were later published as a book titled Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska.
As a young priest and later Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, became familiar with Faustina’s life and writings. He strongly supported the cause for her canonization and helped clarify misunderstandings that had temporarily delayed wider acceptance of the Divine Mercy devotion she received in her visions. After becoming pope, he published his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), focusing deeply on the theology of God’s merciful love. He visited the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kraków-Łagiewniki, where he honored St. Faustina and entrusted the world to God’s Divine Mercy.
The Blessed Virgin Mary bore extreme pains throughout her life. And as the mother of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), she witnessed her Son’s Passion and Death on the Cross. This is why, as we face our own pains and temptations, we should turn to Our Lady of Sorrows and meditate on her Seven Dolors, or Sorrows.
This free eBook will encourage you to meditate on these Sorrows that pierced Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Use the form below to tell us where to send your free eBook, The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Fr. Chris Alar introduces you to St. Faustina. Her unique role and mission as Jesus’ Secretary and Apostle of Divine Mercy are the key to unlocking the boundless benefits of His message.
Experience this five-part teaching series by Fr. Chris Alar that defines the message of Divine Mercy and explores the graces it offers.
In this episode, learn about the life of St. Faustina, with emphasis on the devotion to the Divine Mercy.
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As we deepen our relationship with the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, we grow in grace and are transformed by His love and mercy.
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