Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938)
Image Courtesy: Archbishop Jose Gomez
(Franciscan Media) St. Faustina name is forever linked to the annual Feast of Divine Mercy (celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter) the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Divine Mercy Prayer, recited each day at 3:00 PM by many people.
Born in what is now, West Central Poland (part of Germany before WW I) Sister Maria Faustina, worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the ‘Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy’ in 1925–In addition to carrying out her work faithfully serving the needs of the Sisters and the local population, she also had a deep interior life, this included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and her Confessors.
At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict Judge that they may be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize His mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed.
“I do not want to punish aching mankind but I desire to heal it,” Jesus told St. Faustina, “pressing it to My merciful heart.” (Diary 1588) The two rays emanating from Christ’s heart St. Fautina said, represents the ‘blood and water’ poured out after Jesus’ death. (John 19:34)
While Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “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. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.” (Diary 1107)
Sister Maria Faustina died on this date in Poland Krakow of tuberculosis–she was Beatified in 1993 and Canonized in 2000 by Pope Saint John Paul II
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Related: For Today’s Most Holy Scripture Readings for the Memorial of St. Faustina, Visit: -USCCB