Mercy on my Bookshelf
St. Faustina’s diary is a thick book. If you’ve not seen it, it’s 700-pages-of-tiny-font kind of thick. I tried to read it. But mostly I stared at it on my bookshelf slightly guiltily, knowing it was one of those modern-day spiritual classics that could help me if I dared open it again. About ten years ago, I determined that I would finish it, and after a fashion, I did. This small victory delighted me, probably a bit too much. Finally, I was exploring the fantastic story of the formidable Faustina whom Jesus tasked to create a specific image of Him and a feast known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Then, in 2019, the film Love and Mercy: Faustina came out, a docudrama about her life and mission. I took that in as well. What did I learn, and why should you care? Let’s begin at the beginning.
Cover of the book.(Source: Public Domain)
Who Was St. Faustina Kowalska?
Helena Kowalska was a humble Polish nun who became known as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy.” Born on August 25, 1905, in the village of Głogowiec, Poland, she was the third of ten children in a poor and pious peasant family. She felt a strong call to religious life as a girl. Though Helen’s parents initially were against it, at 20, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw, taking the name Sister Maria Faustina. Hers was a simple, hidden life—working in kitchens and gardens—while receiving remarkable private revelations from Jesus beginning in 1931. Jesus called her His “secretary” and asked her to record His messages of mercy in a diary (now published as Divine Mercy in My Soul). He directed her to have an image painted of Him as the Divine Mercy, to promote the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and to establish a special feast day.
Jesus appears to St. Faustina. (Source: Public Domain)
You can picture it… Jesus (!) tells Faustina to leave her safe life and go against her parents’ wishes to join a convent 100 miles away! As hard as that was, she obeys and slips away by train without saying goodbye to them. The loneliness and fear! Now, in Warsaw, her attempts to join convents are met repeatedly with, “We cannot accept you without a dowry.” One eventually says “yes”–if she will earn the cost of her habit by working locally as a domestic servant for a year. She agrees seeing God’s in.
Though she joyfully finally enters religious life, it provides no refuge. Alone in her cell, the sting of her raw red hands from daily washing convent pots and pans in scalding water and the night sweats of tuberculosis keep her awake. The echoes of the sisters whispering that her visions must be her imagination and her superiors cautioning her that they might be heresy or demonic illusions ring in her ears.
One time, the devil disguises himself as an angel and tells her to burn all her precious notes; Faustina, in doubt and confusion, does so before realizing the truth. On top of all this, our saint can barely walk and is coughing up blood as the disease ravages her lungs and digestive system. Still every day she rises, kneels before the tabernacle, and whispers in faith: “Jesus, I trust in You.”
This was St. Faustina’s experience—poverty, opposition, rejection, torment, pain and long-suffering. And, perseverance! In January of 1934, she got permission for the image, and the artist began. Then it took six months of her meeting weekly and redirecting him so as to try to capture the radiant beauty of Jesus—the holy face had to be redone 10 times! That summer, the image was complete.
Four years after that, at just 33 years old, our dear St. Faustina died. Pope St. John Paul II had a deep personal devotion to her message. He beatified her in 1993 and canonized her in 2000—the same day he declared that the Second Sunday of Easter would be known as “Divine Mercy Sunday.”
The image with its simple declaration: Jesus, I trust in You. (Source: Public Domain)
What Is Divine Mercy Sunday?
St. Faustina is the who, now for the what. Divine Mercy Sunday is the Second Sunday after Easter. It is not a new feast invented by the Church, but a special “appellation” or title given by the Pope St. John Paul to highlight the mercy at the heart of the Easter mystery. This day was already a solemnity, meaning it has the highest liturgical rank of a feast, in ecclesiastical calendar.
In her diary, St. Faustina recorded Jesus’ repeated requests: “I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day, the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy.”
Jesus promised that anyone who goes to Confession (even days before) and receives Holy Communion on this Sunday—with trust in His mercy—will receive complete forgiveness of sins and all punishment due to them. It is a “day of grace for all souls,” closing the Easter Octave and inviting the whole world to accept the gift of God’s marvelous mercy made visible in the Resurrection.
How Is Divine Mercy Sunday Celebrated Around the World?
Divine Mercy Sunday has become a global celebration, drawing millions in parishes large and small. In Poland, the heart of the devotion, the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kraków-Łagiewniki (where St. Faustina’s remains rest) hosts massive pilgrimages, outdoor Masses, and the Chaplet prayed by thousands. Both Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Francis celebrated there, emphasizing its universal call.
In Rome, the Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia (Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia) has become the city’s dedicated home for these devotions, often led by the pope. Just steps from the Vatican, it draws faithful for quiet prayer before the image, the Chaplet at 3 p.m., and a tangible sense of the graces Jesus promised.
Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia. (Source: Public Domain)
In the Philippines, entire communities tune in to nationwide broadcasts of the 3 o’clock Hour of Mercy prayers. The Marian Divine Mercy Shrine in El Salvador draws crowds for solemn processions. Similar scenes unfold in the United States (especially at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts), Ireland, Italy, Nigeria, Mexico, and beyond. Common elements include:
-Solemn Masses with extended Confession times
-Public recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
-Veneration of the Divine Mercy image
-Processions and expositions of the Blessed Sacrament
What unites them all is the simple, powerful message: trust in God’s mercy and receive His grace.
Observing the Feast of Divine Mercy: A How-To Guide
After your church, your home can be a “refuge and shelter” for Divine Mercy. Here’s our Hallowed Home guide to the graces offered on this feast.
- Go to Mass and Confession First of all, if you are Catholic, of course you will already be going to Sunday Mass. Also, try to go to Confession before or on Divine Mercy Sunday as Jesus told St. Faustina both are an important part of the feast. Here is a beautiful article on Confession from the Paulist Fathers.
- Display the Divine Mercy Image Place the Image on your home altar, dining table, or mantel. The red ray emanating from Jesus represents the Blood (life of souls); the pale ray represents the Water (making souls righteous). Light a candle or add a vase of flowers if you wish.
- Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (ideally at 3 p.m.—the Hour of Mercy) Use rosary beads to count. The chaplet also has five decades—with its own special prayers—and takes half the time of a Rosary. The prayers are straightforward and family-friendly (see below; full text is also widely available online or in prayer books). You can download this app or use a video to pray it.
- Venerate the Image Spend time gazing at the image. Jesus promised: “I promise that the soul that venerates this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory.” Say together: “Jesus, I trust in You!”
- Incorporate Mercy in Daily Life Some options: Perform a simple work of mercy (call a lonely relative, forgive a small grudge, write a note or card to someone, share a meal, help someone) or read a short passage from St. Faustina’s Diary or the day’s Gospel (John 20:19-31). For kids/families: Color the Divine Mercy image, keep a “mercy jar” to note graces received, or bake these authentic Polish Butter Cookies (you could dye one half of the dough pink or red to mimic the colors of the image). Who knows, maybe St. Faustina enjoyed them, too?
- Be Grateful for the Graces After dinner or at bedtime: Each person can name one way they experienced witnessed God’s mercy that week—(e.g., “when I forgave my brother,” “when you listened that lady in the grocery line who kept repeating the same story,” or “when you helped the little boy who dropped his lunch”). Afterwards, you might pray in unison: Holy God, Holy Might One, Holy Immortal One, Have Mercy on Us and on the Whole World (from the Chaplet).
You don’t need to read St. Faustina’s voluminous diary or watch a feature film, all you need to do is go to Mass, make a good Confession, and practice mercy. Thus fortified, you can turn your hallowed home into an (extra) grace-filled place. (Find other Hallowed Home How-To guides here (St. Joseph’s Day) and here (Passiontide).)
May you always remember, dear reader: NO SIN IS GREATER THAN GOD’S MERCY, and say with St. Faustina:
Jesus, I trust in You.
From a reliquary display at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Boise, Idaho. I love that she shows a hint of happiness here.(Source: John Ruberto)
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. (Source: Public Domain)