Faustina Kowalska
Saint Faustina Kowalska is the patroness of the Divine Mercy because that devotion came into the world through her: a humble Polish nun, she received visions in which Christ appeared with rays of pale and red light streaming from His Heart and asked her to have the image painted with the words “Jesus, I trust in You,” to spread the Feast of Mercy on the Sunday after Easter, and to teach the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Her Diary recording these revelations became a spiritual classic, and Saint John Paul II — who beatified and canonized her — established Divine Mercy Sunday for the whole Church. She is honored too as a patroness of World Youth Day, her message of trust in God’s mercy especially entrusted to the young.
Saint Faustina Kowalska was a Polish nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Born Helena Kowalska in 1905, she received visions of Jesus in which He asked her to spread devotion to His Divine Mercy. Her diary records these revelations and has become a spiritual classic. The Divine Mercy devotion she promoted is now practiced worldwide.
