Saint Sister Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)

She was born on August 25, 1905, in Poland. At baptism, she was given the name Helena. She attended school for less than three years; at sixteen, she went to work as a domestic servant for well-to-do families in Aleksandrów Łódzki and Łódź to support herself and help her parents. After a vision of the suffering Jesus and a year of service in Ostrówek (Klembów municipality), she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on August 1, 1925, receiving the name Sr. M. Faustina at her clothing.
During her thirteen years of religious life, she lived in several houses of the Congregation—especially in Kraków, Vilnius, Płock, and Warsaw—most often serving as a cook, gardener, and porter. She suffered from tuberculosis of the lungs and digestive tract and therefore underwent prolonged treatment twice at the hospital in Prądnik, Kraków.
This outwardly ordinary life concealed an extraordinary depth of union with God and a great prophetic mission entrusted to her. She received many extraordinary graces, attaining profound union with God even on earth. Through her, Jesus reminded the world of the biblical truth of God’s merciful love for every person and called for it to be proclaimed anew with great power. He also entrusted new forms of devotion to Divine Mercy: the image with the inscription “Jesus, I trust in You,” the Feast of Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and prayer at the hour of His agony on the Cross, known as the Hour of Mercy. To these devotions He attached great promises, conditioned on trust in God and mercy toward one’s neighbors.
In fulfilling this mission, Sister Faustina was guided by her spiritual director, Blessed Fr. Michał Sopoćko, and her confessor in Kraków, Fr. Józef Andrasz, SJ. From her charism and mystical experience arose in the Church the Apostolic Movement of Divine Mercy, which continues to proclaim the mystery of God’s mercy through life, action, word, and prayer.
Sister Faustina died on October 5, 1938, in the convent at Kraków-Łagiewniki. In 1966, her remains were transferred from the convent cemetery to the chapel. Since her beatification on April 18, 1993, by Pope Saint John Paul II, her relics have rested beneath the image of the Merciful Jesus at the Shrine in Kraków-Łagiewniki. On April 30, 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II canonized her and entrusted the message of Divine Mercy—recorded in her Diary—to the whole Church and the world for the third millennium of faith.
On August 25, 1995, the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy recognized Sister Faustina as its spiritual co-foundress, in fulfillment of her charismatic mission.

Saint John Paul II (1920–2005)

He was born Karol Józef Wojtyła in Poland, was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005. He is remembered as one of the most influential leaders in the history of the Catholic Church, a tireless pilgrim of peace, and a profound teacher of human dignity and God’s merciful love. In the course of his ministry, he invited the world to encounter Christ’s mercy as the primary source of hope and healing in every age.
From the beginning of his pontificate, the message of Divine Mercy was especially dear to him. He drew upon his personal experience of suffering during World War II and his deep spiritual roots in Poland to make mercy a hallmark of his teaching and pastoral outreach. Inspired by the visions and writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, he made the Divine Mercy message central to the life of the Church.
Saint John Paul II beatified St. Faustina in 1993 and canonized her in 2000, exactly as her Feast of Divine Mercy was solemnly instituted for the entire Church. On that same occasion, he established Divine Mercy Sunday on the Sunday after Easter, inviting all the faithful to trust in God’s unfathomable mercy and to live lives of compassion, forgiveness, and love.
He also wrote the encyclical Dives in Misericordia (“Rich in Mercy”), a theological reflection on God’s merciful love and the call for Christians to be merciful to others. Throughout his life, St. John Paul II encouraged the Church to proclaim “Divine Mercy — the great message for our time,” reminding the world that there is nothing humanity needs more than God’s mercy.
At this shrine, we honor both St. Faustina and St. John Paul II as apostles of God’s mercy. Together they have helped draw countless souls to the loving Heart of Jesus — where mercy and hope are always found.

The Message and Devotion of Divine Mercy

The message of Divine Mercy is beautifully simple: God loves every one of us. He invites us to recognize that His mercy is greater than any sin, so that we may turn to Him with trust, receive His mercy, and allow it to flow through us to others. In this way, all people are drawn into the joy of His love. The Divine Mercy message can be remembered easily through the letters ABC:
A — Ask for His mercy.
God desires that we come to Him continually in prayer, acknowledge our sins with humility, and ask Him to pour out His mercy upon us and upon the whole world.
B — Be merciful.
Having received God’s mercy, we are called to share it with others. This means extending love, compassion, and forgiveness, just as God so generously does for us.
C — Completely trust in Jesus.
The graces of Divine Mercy are received through trust. The more we open our hearts and lives to Jesus with confidence in His love, the more fully we are able to receive His mercy.

This message and devotion to Jesus as Divine Mercy come from the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, a humble and uneducated Polish nun. In obedience to her spiritual director, she kept a diary of nearly 600 pages, recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy. Even before her death in 1938, devotion to Divine Mercy had already begun to spread.
The message and devotional practices found in Saint Faustina’s Diary, and promoted through this website and other publications of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, are fully consistent with the teachings of the Church and deeply rooted in the Gospel of our merciful Savior. When properly understood and lived, they help us grow as authentic followers of Christ.