OSV Kids: Saint Faustina Kowalska

By OSV Kids, OSV News

St. Faustina Kowalska (d. 1938)

Feast day: Oct. 5

St. Faustina Kowalska was born in Poland in 1905. She entered the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy at age 20. She seemed to those around her to be a very ordinary nun as she worked in the kitchens and gardens. However, in 1931, she was blessed by a vision of Jesus. 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.”

Before her death at age 33, she had other visions of Jesus, all of which centered on the message of God’s great mercy for humanity. Pope St. John Paul II had a particular devotion to St. Faustina and established Divine Mercy Sunday, which is celebrated each year on the Sunday one week after Easter Sunday.

In her memory:
-- Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy