Twentieth-century Polish sister who spread devotion to the Divine Mercy.
Life
Saint Faustina was born Helena Kowalska in 1905 to a poor farming family in Poland. She had only a few years of schooling, and in 1925 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, receiving the name Maria Faustina.
In the convent she was given humble tasks such as cooking, gardening and serving at the door. Meanwhile she said she received messages from Jesus about God's mercy, and at her confessor's urging she recorded them in her diary. The image of the Merciful Jesus with the words Jesus, I trust in you, and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy spread from there.
She died in Kraków in 1938 at the age of thirty-three. When Pope Saint John Paul II canonized her in 2000, he established the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. The Church remembers her on October 5.
Spirituality
Faustina's spirituality is complete trust in God's mercy. She proclaimed to the world that no sin is greater than God's mercy, and stressed that those who receive mercy must show mercy to their neighbors.
Reflection
Jesus, I trust in you. This short prayer can change an anxious day. Whenever your heart feels heavy today, would you quietly pray these words?