The Story
Saint Faustina was born Helena Kowalska in 1905. She was raised in large a Polish peasant family and grew up a poor girl with little education or prospects. But when Jesus appeared to her, telling her to head for Warsaw and become a nun, she secretly hopped on a train for the city. Arriving penniless, she went throughout Warsaw knocked on the doors of convents until the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy finally accepted her. In 1930, Sister Faustina, as she was then called, began to receive regular mystical visits from Jesus. In these visions, He asked her to spread devotion to His Divine Mercy. Christ’s mission for Faustina was fulfilled after her death, when Saint John Paul II declared the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday. Devotion to Christ’s Divine Mercy continues to grow worldwide. In April 2000, Faustina Kowalska was declared the first saint of the 21st century.