Helen Kowalska was born in 1905 in a small Polish town. She left school after third grade and never learned to write or read very well. Helen dreamed of becoming a nun. She was very disappointed when her parents would not give their permission. They needed the money she earned as a maid for other families. She was obedient to her parents, but her desire to enter religious life never left her.
When she was eighteen, God spoke to her in her heart. God told her to go to a large city in Poland to enter the convent. It is said that she took the next train to Warsaw.
Helen joined the Servants of Our Lady of Mercy. Helen was given the name Sr. Mary Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament. Sr. Faustina was blessed by visions of Jesus, who gave her a special mission. Jesus wanted her to spread devotion about the Mercy of God and to help people remember that God our Father is merciful and loving to all people, even those who have turned away from him in sin.
In another vision, Jesus asked Sr. Faustina to have a portrait painted of our Lord as the King of Mercy. Jesus also asked Faustina to be an example of mercy for others and to imitate Christ by making sacrifices for others. Faustina did everything Jesus asked. When the other nuns made fun of Faustina and said her visions were fake, Faustina forgave them. When beggars came to the convent looking for food and shelter, Faustina took pity on them and helped them.
Faustina was asked to keep a diary about her experiences and her visions. Because Faustina had such a poor education, the diary was difficult to read, but after her death, the spelling was corrected and everyone who reads it can now see that Faustina was a messenger of God’s mercy.
We honor Faustina as a saint. Her life reminds of Jesus’ teaching in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). We pray that we can imitate her loving and merciful treatment of others.
Related posts: