Saint Who?
Saints Who Exemplify Devotion
to the Christ Child
Saint Faustina
Religious († 1938) Feast: October 5
“If the Redeemer had come to be feared and respected by men, he would have come as a full-grown man and with royal dignity: but because he came to gain our love, he chose to come and to show himself as an infant and the poorest of infants.” Sister Faustina is well known for her role as the visionary of the Divine Mercy devotion. She was also very much devoted to the Child Jesus.
In her diary she records several visions demonstrating how much Jesus desired to give and receive love. “I saw the Infant Jesus near my kneeler. He appeared to be about one year old, and he asked me to take him in my arms. When I did take him in my arms, he cuddled up close to my bosom and said, ‘It is good for me to be close to your heart.’” Faustina noted that during one such vision she was filled with fear and awe, and yet with so much love she thought she would die.
Jesus also revealed that he wanted her to be “little” as well. “I want you to be very little because when you are little, I carry you close to my heart, just as you are holding me close to your heart.” Faustina died at age thirty-three. She was canonized in 2000.
Little Jesus, through the prayers of Saint Faustina,
may we receive the gentle embrace of your mercy.
