Faustina Kowalska

Saint

Faustina Kowalska

OLM
Virgin
Born(1905-08-25)25 August 1905
Głogowiec, Łęczyca County, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died5 October 1938(1938-10-05) (aged 33)
Kraków, Second Polish Republic
Venerated inCatholic Church
Beatified18 April 1993, St. Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized30 April 2000, St. Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Major shrineBasilica of Divine Mercy, Kraków, Poland
Feast5 October

Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, OLM (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 – 5 October 1938[1]) was a Polish Catholic religious sister and mystic. Faustyna, popularly spelled "Faustina", had apparitions of Jesus Christ which inspired the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, therefore she is sometimes called the "secretary" of Divine Mercy.[2]

Throughout her life, Kowalska reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him, which she noted in her diary, later published as The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. Her biography, submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, quoted some of the conversations with Jesus regarding the Divine Mercy devotion.[3]

At the age of 20 years, she joined a convent in Warsaw. She was later transferred to Płock and then to Vilnius, where she met Father Michał Sopoćko, who was to be her confessor and spiritual director, and who supported her devotion to the Divine Mercy. With this priest's help, Kowalska commissioned an artist to paint the first Divine Mercy image, based on her vision of Jesus. Father Sopoćko celebrated Mass in the presence of this painting on Low Sunday, also known as the Second Sunday of Easter or (as established by Pope John Paul II), Divine Mercy Sunday.

The Catholic Church canonized Kowalska as a saint on 30 April 2000.[4] The mystic is classified in the liturgy as a virgin[5] and is venerated within the church as the "Apostle of Divine Mercy". Her tomb is in Divine Sanctuary, Kraków-Łagiewniki, where she spent the end of her life and met confessor Józef Andrasz, who also supported the message of mercy.

  1. ^ Alban Butler and Paul Burns, 2005, Butler's Lives of the Saints, Burns and Oats. ISBN 0-86012-383-9. p. 251.
  2. ^ "St. Faustina Kowalska - Information on the Saint of the Day - Vatican News".
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference VaticanBio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Pope John Paul II, Homily for the Canonization of Sr Mary Faustina Kowalska, 30 April 2000.
  5. ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Typis Vaticanis 2004) ISBN 9788820972103, p. 557