From time to time in salvation history God sends mankind a chosen soul, someone who will bear a message meant to reinvigorate our spiritual lives.  St. Faustina Kowalska was such a soul.  Between 1930 and 1938, our Savior appeared to her so that she might rekindle in the hearts of fallen man a renewed love for the crucified Savior AND admonish the same for his distrust in God’s infinite mercy and divine goodness.

Today we will speak on the Feast of the Divine Mercy.

The future saint of the Divine Mercy message was born in Poland in 1905 and given the name Helen Kowalska.  At about twenty years of age, Helen entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy whose members care for and educate troubled young women.  The following year she took the habit and the new religious name, “Faustina.”

In 1931, our Lord visited Sr. Faustina in a vision.  He stood wearing a radiant white garment; His right hand poised to bless, His left hand touching the place where the spear had pierced the Savior’s heart as He hung on the cross. Two rays issued forth from this wound of love: one red, the other white.  Gazing upon the vision in silence, Sr. Faustina heard these words within her soul, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see with the signature: Jesus, I Trust in Thee...  I promise that the soul that venerates this Image will not perish.  I promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, ESPECIALLY at the hour of death.  I, Myself, will defend it as my own glory (Diary 47, 48)...; I desire that this Image be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the world.”

Sr. Faustina was told the two rays denote water and blood.  Water which cleanses the soul and blood which nourishes the soul.  The Savior said, “These rays issued from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized heart was pierced by the lance.  Blessed is the soul who will dwell in their shelter for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. (Dairy 299) ... By means of this image, I shall grant many graces to souls.  It shall recall the demands of My mercy as even the strongest faith is of no avail for salvation without works. (Diary 742)       

Four years later, in 1935, Sr. Faustina beheld a vision of an angel preparing to chastize a certain city for its many sins. She began to pray that God might spare the city... but her prayers had no effect.  Tiring and near despair, Sr. Faustina suddenly saw an image of the Holy Trinity and felt a surge of grace pouring into her soul.  At the same time, she heard the interior words, “Eternal Father, I offer Thee the body, blood, soul and divinity of Thy dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for my sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”  As Sr. Faustina repeated these words she saw the avenging angel become helpless to accomplish his work and the city was spared.

“This prayer will serve to appease My wrath,”our Lord told Sr. Faustina. “You will recite it for nine days on the beads of the Rosary in this manner: First, say the Our Father and the Hail Mary and the Apostles Creed.  Then on the Our Father beads, say, ‘Eternal Father, I offer Thee the body, blood, soul and divinity of Thy dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for my sins and those of the whole world.’  Then on the Hail Mary beads, say, ‘For the sake of His sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.’  In conclusion, three times recite, ‘Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.’” (Dairy 476)   This method of prayer is known as the Chaplet of Mercy.

 On September 14, 1935, Sr. Faustina received the following promises for those who would recite the Chaplet of Mercy. “Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death; ... priests will recommend it to sinners as a last hope of salvation; even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this but once, will receive grace from My infinite mercy.  By means of it, you can ask and obtain anything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will.  I want the whole world to know My infinite mercy.  I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My mercy.” (#129)

In another vision, our Lord spoke of His wish that the first Sunday after Easter be named the Feast of the Mercy of God.  In preparation for this feast, He asked that a Novena be started on Good Friday with each day of the Novena dedicated to a different group of souls.  The first day we are to pray for sinners; the second day, the souls of priests and nuns; the third day, the faithful and pious; the fourth day, pagans and those who do not know Christ; the fifth day, heretics and schismatics; the sixth day, the humble and meek and souls of children; the seventh day, those who adore and honor His mercy; the eight day, souls in purgatory; and on the ninth day, the lukewarm.

“By this Novena”, our Lord tells Sr. Faustina, “I will grant every possible grace to souls.” (796).

More wonderful yet, our Lord also promised a complete remission of all punishment due for sin to those who devoutly celebrate the Feast of Mercy.  Sr. Faustina records our Lord as having said this on three different occasions: “I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy”(#1109); “Whoever approaches the Fountain of life (sacraments) on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment”(#300); “The soul that will go to confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.”(#699)

But these Divine promises will be granted only if we practice mercy ourselves.  Our Lord told Sr. Faustina, “The first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must be also acts of mercy... I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for Me.  You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere.  You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.” (#742)

Therefore, to worthily observe the Feast of Mercy we should: celebrate the feast; repent of our sins; renew our trust in Jesus; go to confession (eight days before or after); receive Holy Communion; venerate the Image of the Divine Mercy; and practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

Moreover, let us recall that the Divine Mercy promise of a full remission of sin is NOT a plenary indulgence.  Only the Church may decree a plenary indulgence which is a canonical term for the total remission of punishment due for forgiven sin.  While the Church has decreed the first Sunday after Easter as the Feast of Divine Mercy she has not indulgenced  its celebration.

On October 5, 1938, Sr. Faustina went to her reward.  Recognizing her sanctity, Pope John Paul II canonized her on April 30, 2000.  May 23 of that same year, the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments decreed, for the universal Church, the first Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.

Before Sr. Faustina died, Christ told her, “I protect, as a mother does a child, the souls who promote the devotion of My mercy during their lifetime; in the hour of death I will not come as their judge but their Savior.  In that final hour, when death beckons the soul to leave the body, the soul has no defense save My mercy.  Fortunate is the soul that immersed itself in the fountain of My mercy, for justice shall not reach it there.”

Let us celebrate with great comfort the Feast of the Divine Mercy, but let us also practice mercy towards others.  This is the sure way to die well.  Such is promised by our Lord in another place wherein He said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain Mercy.”