Term Paper on "St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy"

Term Paper 11 pages (4583 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

St. Faustina and the Devine Mercy

It was during the night in a cold Polish farmhouse that Helena, the third child of Marianna and Stanislaus Kowalski was born. Soon after this beautiful child, the future Sister Faustina was born, her mother reportedly smiled a beatific smile that lit up the entire room. (Odell, 15) Sister Faustina was born in the year 1905, Gogowiec in Poland. She was the third child in a poor Polish family that had ten children to feed, and she was initially baptized Helena in the parish Church of -- winice Warckie. Even when she was but a small child, she was an example to many others, because of her love of prayer, her obedience, her deference, her sense of duty, and most important of all, her love and affection and sympathy for the poor people of her land. Helena, or Sister Faustina made her first Holy Communion at the age of nine, and she lived this particular moment very profoundly in her awareness of the presence of the Divine Guest within her soul. When she turned sixteen, Helena left her home and her family, in order to work outside and provide monetary support for her large family. It has often been stated that Sister Faustina felt one of her first and initial stirrings of a religious vocation, when she was at the tender age of seven, and that soon after she completed her schooling, she wanted to enter the Convent, but her parents refused to give their beloved daughter permission to enter. (Mary Faustina Kowalska: 1905-1938)

It was on August 1, 1925 that Helena was called during a vision of the Suffering Christ. This changed her life, and she could stay out of the Convent no longer. She therefore, immediately entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and took the name Sister Mary Faustina. Sister Faustina lived in the Congregation for almost thirteen years, and later on, she also lived in numerous religious houses. She also spent time at Krakow, Pock and Vilnius, where she was willing to and worked as a cook, a gardener and also as a porter. It must be remembered that Sister Faustina belonged and till today belongs to a group comprised of the some of the most popular and best-known Saints of the Church. It has often been said and believed that it is through Sister Faustina that the Lord Jesus communicates the great message of mercy and love for His people to the world at large. Jesus also supposedly reveals the patterns that make up Christianity, like for example, trust in God, and the innate attitude of mercy towards one's neighbor, through Sister Faustina. (Mary Faustina Kowalska: 1905-1938)

Sister Faustina almost never revealed to others around her, her rich mystical interior life, and she would always perform her assigned duties religiously and zealously. She was a serene, calm, tranquil, and peaceful person, and full of kindness and love for her neighbor. Apparently, according to the literature of the time, Sister Faustina's life was dull and insignificant and even monotonous, and not once did she reveal her inner nature, and the extraordinary communication, communion and the union that she was able to hold with God. (What is Divine Mercy?) This communion with Jesus Christ reportedly took place in the 1930's, which was when Sister Faustina received a 'message of Mercy' from the Lord, which she had to spread throughout the world. In short, it is said that Sister Faustina was requested to become the Apostle and the Secretary of the blessed Lord's mercy and love, and remain a real life model of how to be merciful to others around us, and in addition, to serve as an instrument for re-emphasizing God's plan of mercy meant for the entire world in general. (Apparitions of Jesus, Biography of Saint Faustina)

However, all this meant that Sister Faustina would have to live an extremely tough and an exemplary life, by setting a good example for others. This was by no means an easy task, and Sister Faustina had to live her life as an imitation as that of Christ's life, and this would in fact be a great sacrifice, because a life lived for the benefit and betterment of others is no small task, and not an easy one at that. It was at the Divine Lord's request that Sister Faustina enthusiastically and willingly offered her personal sufferings in union with Him, in order to better atone for the sins of others; even in the routine course of her daily life, the gracious Sister was to become a doer of mercy, bringing happiness and peace and joy to others, and by writing about God's mercy, she was to encourage others to trust in Him and thus prepare the world for His coming again.

Surprisingly, Sister Faustina was a person who was quite completely convinced that she was a truly unworthy individual, and this also meant that she was terrified of writing anything down on paper. Nevertheless, the beloved Sister started to write in a diary in the year 1934, and this too was in keeping with her obedience and devotion to the express wishes of her Spiritual Director, and then of the very Lord Himself. Divine revelations, her own mystic experiences that took place during her communion and union with the Lord, and all her deep and insightful experiences, her prayers, her thoughts, all were faithfully and meticulously recorded in the Diary. This written diary maintained by Sister Faustina became a printed book with about six hundred pages, and this book, in plain and simple language, repeats and illuminates clearly the gospel story of God's love for His people, and also emphases, above all, the need to trust in His loving action in all the aspects of our lives. (Apparitions of Jesus, Biography of Saint Faustina)

Jesus himself told Sister Faustina to go to an artist and to ask him to paint a picture of Jesus, the way the devoted Sister saw him, standing, wearing a flowing white robe, with one hand reaching towards Heaven, and the other, reaching towards His people. The artist was also requested to paint two rays of light shining from the heart of Jesus: one ray was to be pale, and the other ray, red. The pale ray was meant to symbolize the water that is used during Baptism, and the red ray was meant to symbolize the blood that had been shed by Jesus Christ during his trials and tribulations. The artist was then asked to write these words under the painting: "Jesus, I trust in you." The Sister Faustina did get the picture painted according to the specifications that had been revealed to her by none other than Jesus Christ Himself, and gradually, over a period of time, people started to come over to see this wonderful painting.

The numbers of people visiting her to see the painting increased daily, and soon enough, these people started to invest a lot of faith in Sister Faustina. They started to pray the very prayers that Sister Faustina suggested, and it must be noted that most of these prayers were all about the 'Divine Mercy' of Jesus Christ, and the love and the forgiveness of God. Although the other sisters around Sister Faustina did not really enjoy what Sister Faustina was achieving, and they never did extend a friendly hand to her, her popularity grew, and soon enough, people would flock to see Sister Faustina, and none other. Even though there was widespread disbelief that this devoted sister was actually communicating with Jesus Christ, gradually, there was an increased acceptance of the fact that this was happening, and within the four walls of their own Convent.

Gradually, everyone else started to realize the fact that Sister Faustina was not making anything up; she never did try to show off, and never did she display pride that she was the chosen one to communicate with Jesus Christ. This great person was only trying to share the thoughts that Jesus Christ had shared with her, and although she was only able to succeed to a certain extent, she was indeed able to achieve a part at least, of what she wanted to achieve: that of communicating to the world what Jesus Christ was attempting to convey, through her. (Welborn, 30) It was through Sister Faustina, for example, that Jesus Christ was able to tell his own people that the greatest attribute of God is His mercy. (Dobbins, 2) The Sister and the 'Apostle of Divine Mercy' as Jesus Christ Himself named her, was for the most part, however, unlettered and unrecognized and also unacknowledged. Sister Faustina died an agonizing and painful death, at the tender young age of thirty-three in the year 1938, because of complications caused by the deadly tuberculosis that she had contracted. (Odell, 9)

These are some of the writings from Sister Faustina's diary: "I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited… READ MORE

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