Novena to St. Faustina
O Jesus, Who filled Your servant,
St. Faustina, with profound veneration
for Your boundless Mercy,
deign, if it be Your holy will,
to grant me, through her intercession,
the grace for which I fervently pray.
My sins render me unworthy of Your
mercy, but be mindful of St. Faustina’s
spirit of sacrifice and self-denial,
and reward her virtue by granting
the petition which, with childlike
confidence, I present to You through
her intercession. Amen.
About St. Faustina
Helen Kowalska was born in 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland. She was the third of ten children born in a poor family who struggled during the years of World War I on their little farm.
She attended school for three years and at the age of fifteen began working to help support her family. She believed she had the calling to be a nun and applied to many convents until she was finally accepted as a Sister of Our Lady of Mercy. She became a nun in 1926 and took the name “Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.”
Not having much of an education, she usually worked as a gardener, a cook, or a housekeeper within the convent. Then on February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to her bringing a message of Divine Mercy. She told that Jesus was dressed in white with His right hand raised in a blessing and the other touching the garment of the breast. Two large rays came forth from the garment, one red and one white or pale. She was told by Jesus to paint this image of Him and at the bottom to put the words, “Jesus, I trust in You.” He also asked that the First Sunday after Easter be celebrated as the “Feast of Mercy.” With the help of Fr. Michal Sopocko, devotion to the Divine Mercy spread. Sister Maria Faustina kept a diary, later published as “Divine Mercy in My Soul: The Diary of St. Faustina”. In 1935, she had a vision of her being taught the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Sister Faustina became sick in 1936 but continued to pray for the conversion of sinners and to recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. She died in 1938 and was later canonized as the first female Polish saint by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Although her published works were forbidden by the Vatican for twenty years, when Pope John Paul II was Archbishop of Krakow, Sister Faustina’s life was reinvestigated and the devotion to the Divine Mercy was subsequently permitted. The Divine Mercy painting as well as St. Faustina’s diary has now spread all over the world.
Feast Day: October 5
Patron Saint of: World Youth Day
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