Saint Who?
Saints Who Taught about Prayer
Saint Faustina Kowalska
Religious († 1938) Feast: October 5
Helena was born into a poor but devout family in Głogowiec, Poland. Because she was needed at home, she received little formal education. When her parents refused to bless her desire to enter religious life, she found work as a housekeeper to help support her family.
But when our Lord appeared to her as she attended a dance, she immediately began looking for a religious community. About a year later, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.
As Sister Maria Faustina, she faced many difficulties. Her recurring health problems required rest and hospitalization, and some of the sisters ridiculed her as lazy. Due to her lack of education, she was given only simple assignments, such as cooking and gardening. Yet she maintained a deep prayer life and awareness of God’s presence. Our Lord appeared to her multiple times, and he told her to have a portrait painted of an image of himself that he revealed to her, with red and white rays pouring from his heart. Despite many difficulties, she obeyed. Although it took decades for the revelations in her diary to be approved by the Church, the message of Divine Mercy about which she wrote, as well as the inspirational image of God’s love, eventually spread all over the world.
Divine Mercy, we trust in you.
