The following was written by Father Joseph Gill, pastor of St. Jude Parish in Monroe.
Helena Kowalska appeared at the door of the convent, with no possessions or money to her name, asking to be admitted. The nun in charge took one look at her shabby dress, and responded, “We don’t need any maids here.” And the door was closed in her face. Yet another rejection for a poor girl who wanted nothing more than to give her life to God.
Yet, undaunted, she tried yet another convent, the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw, Poland. This time, the Mother Superior allowed her to enter, on the condition that she paid for her own habit (religious dress). She worked for months to save up enough money, and at long last, in 1926 she entered the convent, against the wishes of her parents and with no other “back-up plans.”
Her life in the convent was rather unremarkable. She took her first vows in 1928 and worked in the kitchen, cleaned the convent, worked in the garden, and spent long hours in prayer and sacrifice…until something amazing happened in 1931. She had just returned to her cell when she had a stunning vision of Jesus standing before her, rays of red and white emanating from his chest. He told her that he wanted a devotion of Divine Mercy to spread throughout the Church, for in this most warlike and sinful of centuries, mankind needed nothing less than the overwhelming mercy of God.
Sister Faustina, as she was known in the convent, told no one about the visions for two years. Finally, having transferred to another convent, she shared her secret visions with a priest, Father Sopocko. Initially, Father Sopocko was skeptical, and ordered her to be evaluated by psychiatrists. But when they gave her a clean bill of mental health, the priest became Sister Faustina’s biggest supporter. He arranged for an image of the Divine Mercy to be painted (which we can see displayed in St. Jude’s Church), preached about Divine Mercy, and spread devotion as far as he could.
The poor, simple Sister Faustina, for her part, compiled all of her visions and conversations with Jesus into a Diary (called Divine Mercy In My Soul), which has since become a Catholic classic and bestseller.
Sister Faustina lived only long enough to see the devotion begin to spread. After her holy death at the age of 33, the cause continued until the devotion to the Divine Mercy became church-wide. It was another Polish saint, Pope St. John Paul II, who officially made the second Sunday of Easter into Divine Mercy Sunday (he also canonized his fellow countrywoman, St. Faustina!).
In addition to the Image and the Diary, there is also the beautiful tradition of praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which is a set of prayers prayed on a Rosary. We will be praying/singing it together this Sunday at 3 pm, along with Adoration and Confessions for the great feast.
Jesus made amazing promises to St. Faustina for those who venerate the Image, celebrate the Feast, or pray the Chaplet – check out these beautiful promises here: https://www.churchpop.com/2020/11/27/14-amazing-promises-jesus-made-to-those-who-pray-the-divine-mercy-chaplet/
Join us this Sunday as we honor Jesus’ greatest post-Resurrection gift to us: his mercy!
