St. Faustina Kowalska
1905 – 1938
· Poland
catholic
· Mystic, Religious Sister
Church Approved
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (born Helena Kowalska) was a Polish Roman Catholic religious sister and mystic of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She is venerated as the "Apostle of Divine Mercy" and "Secretary of Divine Mercy." Born in Glogowiec, Poland, she entered the convent at age 20 after experiencing visions of the suffering Christ from childhood. Between 1931 and 1938, she received a series of extraordinary revelations, visions, and mystical experiences in which Jesus Christ entrusted her with the mission of spreading the message of Divine Mercy to the world. She recorded these experiences in her spiritual diary, "Divine Mercy in My Soul," which spans over 600 pages and contains detailed accounts of her mystical visions, conversations with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, prophecies about the end times, and instructions for establishing the Divine Mercy devotion including the Divine Mercy Image, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Feast of Divine Mercy, and the Hour of Great Mercy. She experienced hidden stigmata, bilocation, the reading of human souls, and the gift of prophecy. She died of tuberculosis in Krakow at age 33. She was beatified in 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000, by Pope John Paul II, becoming the first saint of the new millennium. Her feast day is October 5.
Vision of the Divine Mercy Image and the Two Rays
1931 AD — Plock
Fulfilled
On February 22, 1931, St. Faustina received a vision of Jesus in which He appeared clothed in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing and His left touching His garment near the Heart, from which two large rays came forth — one red, the other pale. Jesus instructed her: Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. (Diary 47-48, 299)
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The Door of Mercy Before the Door of Justice
1934 AD — Vilnius
Pending
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina the relationship between His mercy and His justice: "Before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice." (Diary 1146). In an earlier entry, He warned: "Write this: before I come as the Just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort: all light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the Cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Saviour were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day." (Diary 83).
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Chastisement of the Most Beautiful City
1934 AD — Vilnius
Fulfilled
In Diary entry 39, Jesus warned St. Faustina that He would send a chastisement upon the most beautiful city in her country, comparable to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus instructed her: "My child, unite yourself closely to Me during the Sacrifice and offer My Blood and My Wounds to My Father in expiation for the sins of that city." The city is widely understood to be Warsaw, which between the First and Second World Wars had become one of the great capitals of abortion in Europe. While Sister Faustina lived and prayed, the city was spared. But barely a year after her death in 1938, Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, and by the end of World War II, Warsaw was almost completely destroyed — over 85% of the city lay in ruins, eerily echoing the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Cosmic Signs Before the Last Day
1934 AD — Vilnius
Pending
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina specific signs that would precede the Day of Justice: "Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort: all light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the Cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Saviour were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day." (Diary 83). This prophecy describes dramatic celestial phenomena — total darkness followed by a luminous Cross in the sky — as the final warning sign before Christ returns as the Just Judge. It echoes biblical apocalyptic imagery from Matthew 24 and Revelation, while adding specific details not found in Scripture.
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Mission to Prepare the World for the Final Coming
1935 AD — Vilnius
Pending
Jesus entrusted St. Faustina with a profound eschatological mission, telling her: "You will prepare the world for My final coming." (Diary 429). The Blessed Virgin Mary reinforced this mission, appearing to Faustina and saying: "You have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for granting mercy." (Diary 635). These revelations frame the entire Divine Mercy message as a final offer of grace before the Day of Justice.
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The Feast of Divine Mercy as the Last Hope of Salvation
1935 AD — Vilnius
Fulfilled
Jesus instructed St. Faustina to petition for the establishment of a Feast of Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter, with a dire prophetic warning: "I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy... Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet." (Diary 699). He further warned: "Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they shall perish for all eternity." (Diary 965). This feast was officially established for the universal Church by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000.
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The Worldwide Spread of Divine Mercy Devotion
1935 AD — Vilnius
Fulfilled
Jesus prophesied to St. Faustina that the message of Divine Mercy would spread throughout the entire world, despite opposition and suppression: "By means of this image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it." (Diary 570). He also told her: "My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners." (Diary 699). Remarkably, the Divine Mercy devotion was officially banned by the Vatican from 1959 to 1978 due to an erroneous translation of Faustina's diary. St. Faustina had herself prophesied this ban, warning her spiritual director Fr. Sopocko that he would suffer much because of the devotion. Despite this suppression, the devotion was fully restored and has spread to virtually every country on Earth, with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Divine Mercy Image becoming among the most recognized Catholic devotions worldwide.
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Divine Mercy as the Sign of the End Times
1936 AD — Kraków
Pending
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina that the message of Divine Mercy is itself a prophetic sign: "Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy." (Diary 848). He further warned: "Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near." (Diary 965). And again: "Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy." (Diary 1588). These passages establish the Divine Mercy devotion as the final period of grace before God's judgment upon the world.
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Vision of Hell and Its Seven Tortures
1936 AD — Kraków
Pending
On October 20, 1936, St. Faustina was led by an angel to the chasms of Hell. She recorded: "I, Sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence... The sinners there were told that their suffering would last through all eternity." (Diary 741). She described seven kinds of torture: the loss of God; perpetual remorse of conscience; the knowledge that one's condition will never change; a fire that penetrates the soul without destroying it; continual darkness with a terrible suffocating smell; the constant company of Satan; and horrible despair, hatred of God, cursing, and blasphemy. She concluded: "Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. Most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a Hell." This vision was given so she could testify to the reality of eternal consequences.
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The Spark from Poland
1937 AD — Kraków
Fulfilled
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina a prophecy about the special role of Poland in salvation history: "I bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I shall exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming." (Diary 1732). Many Catholics believe this prophecy was fulfilled, at least in part, through the election of Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyła as Pope John Paul II in 1978, who established the Feast of Divine Mercy for the universal Church and canonized St. Faustina herself. The devotion to Divine Mercy that originated in Poland has since spread to every corner of the world, fulfilling the prophecy of a "spark" emanating from Poland.
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Prophecy of World War II and the Invasion of Poland
1937 AD — Kraków
Fulfilled
St. Faustina repeatedly warned the other sisters at her convent to pray for Poland because "a terrible war was coming." She frequently expressed urgency about an approaching catastrophe that would engulf their homeland. This prophecy was fulfilled when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 — less than a year after Faustina's death on October 5, 1938. The war brought unimaginable devastation to Poland: six million Polish citizens perished (including three million Polish Jews), Warsaw was reduced to rubble, and the entire nation suffered under brutal occupation for nearly six years. Faustina's prophetic warnings about the war, combined with her vision of the chastisement of Warsaw, demonstrate her gift of prophecy regarding the temporal fate of her homeland.
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The Hour of Great Mercy
1937 AD — Kraków
Fulfilled
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina the special significance of the three o'clock hour — the hour of His death on the Cross — as a time of extraordinary grace for the whole world: "At three o'clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion." (Diary 1320). He also said: "As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul." (Diary 1572). This devotional practice has been embraced by millions of Catholics worldwide.
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