Editor ' s Note FALL 2017
On Sunday , April 30 , 2000 - what became officially Divine Mercy Sunday for the Church - Pope St . John Paul II canonized St . Mary Faustina Kowalska , O . L . M . In proclaiming her a saint , the holy pontiff provided a powerful message of mercy for the world at the very dawn of a new century and a new millennium and one of its greatest heralds : Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time . By divine Providence , the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century , the century we have just left behind . In fact , it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her . Those who remember , who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people , know well how necessary was the message of mercy . Jesus told Sr . Faustina : " Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy " ( Diary , p . 132 ). Through the work of the Polish religious , this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century , the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third . It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely , to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time .
The future saint also noted something central to understanding St . Faustina and her own message of mercy : Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified : " My daughter , say that I am love and mercy personified ", Jesus will ask Sr Faustina ( Diary , p . 374 ). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit who , in the Trinity , is the Person-Love . And is not mercy love ' s " second name " ( cf . Dives in misericordia , n . 7 ), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect , in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and , especially , in its immense capacity for forgiveness ? This towering figure of Christ ' s mercy was born early in the 20 th century , near Lódz in Poland on August 25 , 1905 . She felt the call to the religious life at the age of seven and wished to head immediately to the convent . Her parents , understandably , refused her wish , but the call to the religious life never subsided . It culminated in 1924 with her profound vision of the suffering Jesus and the call by Christ to go to Warsaw and enter a convent . This proved a challenge , however , as she was turned down by a number of communities of religious . At last , she was accepted by the mother superior for the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy with the one requirement that she pay for her own religious habit . She labored as a housekeeper and at last , on April 30 , 1926 , she entered the convent and took the name of Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament . On February 22 , 1931 , Faustina beheld Christ Jesus as the King of Divine Mercy , adorned in white with the famed red and pale rays shooting from his heart . She wrote in her diary : In the evening , when I was in my cell , I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment . One hand was raised in blessing , the other was touching the garment at the breast . From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays , one red and the other pale . In silence I gazed intently at the Lord ; my soul was overwhelmed with fear , but also with great joy . After a while Jesus said to me , “ paint an image according to the pattern you see , with the inscription : Jesus , I trust in You .” It took three years for the now beloved image to be painted , thanks to the talents of the Eugene Kazimierowski .