Who is Faustina?
"Write down these words, My daughter. Speak to the world about my mercy."
Why should humanity care about an uneducated Polish farmgirl, born nearly a century ago?
Helena Kowalska grew up like every other little girl in her village: poor, hardworking, devout. Full of humility, she didn't even finish third grade, having to work on the family farm instead.
It was precisely because of this humility and lack of education, that Jesus Christ began appearing to her, giving her messages to write down for the entire world.
"Because you are such great misery, I have revealed to you the whole ocean of My mercy."
At the age of 20, Helena entered the convent and took the name Faustina. It was there that Jesus began appearing to her with important messages for humanity. Not feeling worthy of these visits, she feared that they were a trick of the devil. It was only under the wise guidance of a priest that she began to record the experiences in a diary.
At first, her superiors thought Sister Faustina could be attention-seeking or delusional, yet it soon became obvious that she was not making this up...
"The graces I grant you are not for you alone, but for a great number of other souls as well."
Far from being attention-seeking, Faustina did everything she could to hide what was happening to her. Yet, her secretive behavior caused confusion among the other nuns, provoking many to mock and scorn her. If attention was her goal, Faustina was getting the wrong kind of it.
But was she delusional? All signs said no. First of all, Faustina, herself, thought she could be delusional. She willingly submitted herself to a psychological evaluation to determine her mental state. Not only was she proven to be of sound mind, but when her writings were scrutinized by experts, they found them to contain perfect theology, beyond what the greatest scholars could have written. These messages--coming from a nearly uneducated woman--were not delusions. In fact, they could only be from God.
"My daughter, do you think you have written enough about My mercy? What you have written is but a drop compared to the ocean. I am Love and Mercy itself."
Before her death, Faustina filled six diaries, comprising over 1600 pages. She never completed third grade, and yet there is not a single erasure or correction to be found. Clearly, the words Jesus gave her went straight from her heart to the page.
After decades of scrutiny, and numerous miracles, theologians asserted that there must be a supernatural origin to the messages given to Faustina. Pope John Paull II considered her of such great sanctity that he canonized her in April of 2000 as the first Saint of the new millenium.
Faustina suffered greatly so that she could meticulously record the words Jesus wanted you to read. Open her diary and discover what Jesus is saying to you.
