| Helena Kowalska was born on August 25th, 1905 in Poland to a poor and religious family. Having felt a call to the religious life at only seven years old, Helena immediately wanted to join a convent, but her parents refused. Instead, at sixteen she became a housekeeper to support herself and help her parents.
In 1924, Helena experienced her first vision of Jesus. While attending a dance with her sister, she rushed to the dance floor when she saw Christ standing next to her. He was stripped of his clothes and covered with wounds. Jesus looked at her and said, "How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?" Shocked, she immediately left the dance and went to a nearby Cathedral wherein she heard Jesus telling her to leave for Warsaw and join a convent. | | Helena packed her bags and set out to heed God’s call. After being rejected by multiple convents, she was finally accepted by the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. At just 20 years old, she finally received her habit and took the religious name of Sister Maria Faustina. On February 22, 1931, Faustina was again visited by Jesus. He presented Himself as the “King of Divine Mercy”, wearing a white garment with red and pale rays emanating from his chest. In her diary she wrote: | | Through Sister Faustina, the Lord not only revealed the depths of His mercy, but gave the world new forms of worship including: the Divine Mercy image, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Prayer in the Hour of His Death on the Cross, and more. Today we celebrate the feast day for Sister Faustina, remembering her great faith and servitude for the Lord. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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