The day when Jesus revealed to Faustina the image "Jesus, I trust in You" — The Lay Institute of Divine Mercy (2023)

It is February 22, 1931. Helena Kowalska, who took the name of Faustina in the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, that was in the convent in Płock. It is then that she sees Jesus for the first time in the characteristic posture and gesture of blessing that we today all know thanks to the image "Jesus, I trust in You". The private revelation, given to her by the grace of God, initiated the devotion to Divine Mercy. Today it is 91 years since this event.

It was the first revelation about the message of Divine Mercy that Jesus gave to sister Faustina. It was evening, the first Sunday of Lent in 1931, when Sister Faustina entered the convent cell. After a while, Jesus stood before her. In the "Diary" on February 22, 1931, we read: “In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand [was] raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord; my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy. After a while, Jesus said to me, paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then} throughout the world.” (Diary 47)

A few days after this revelation, the Saint noted: “When I told this to my confessor, I received this for a reply: “That refers to your soul.” He told me, “Certainly, paint God’s image in your soul.” When I came out of the confessional, I again heard words such as these: My image already is in your soul. I desire that there be a Feast of Mercy. I want this image, which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy.” (Diary 49)

Faustina had three confessors at that time. It has not been possible to establish from whom the unfortunate advice of taking Jesus' command as ... a metaphor came from. The prioress, Sr. Róża Kłobukowska of the ZMBM, also mistrust the revelation, and later the Superior General of the Congregation, Sr. Michaela Moraczewska, ZMBM, who was notified by her, also expressed distrust.

Many times, Jesus asks for an image

In subsequent conversations with Faustina, Jesus repeated the request from February 22. The Secretary of Divine Mercy saw the rays flowing from his heart in November 1932 in Walendów, where she was attending a retreat. Jesus again asked for the painting in the Lent of 1933 and returned to the subject in the following years, which is noted in the entire "Diary".

As a result of misunderstanding and growing adversities, during her confession before herperpetual vows, Faustina asked Fr. Józef Andrasz, SJ, to release her from the obligation to fulfill the difficult "mission". The wise confessor, however, refused, persuading her to listen carefully to her inner voice.

The changes took place when Sister Faustina left for the convent in Vilnius, where she met the ideal spiritual director, Bl. Fr. Michał Sopocko. And it was in Vilnius that the image was painted - strictly according to the instructions of Sr. Faustina, who supervised the works.

The first painting stays in Vilnius

It is worth adding that at the beginning she literally took the words "paint with a brush" and tried to create the picture herself. God did not give her the artistic talent necessary for this, just like Sister Bożena from the same congregation, asked by Faustina for help.

The painting "Jesus, I trust in You" was painted by the artist, Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. A coincidence (maybe not accidental) decided. The painter lived in the same apartments house at ul. Rossa 2, where Fr. Sopoćko - only one floor above. The works lasted from January 2 to July 1934. The signature "Jesus, I trust in You" was added on a special plate, on a frame under the canvas. The painting was first exhibited to the public April 28,1935 in Vilnius. Three years later, on October 5, 1938, Sister Faustina dies in Kraków-Łagiewniki. Kazimirowski's painting remains in Vilnius - until now.

Divine mercy Image in Krakow

In the chapel of the convent in Łagiewniki is the image of the Merciful Jesus from 1944 by Adolf Hyła. It was created after the death of the mystic; was corrected according to the instructions of Fr. Michał Sopocko. Hyła was an average painter. The number of images of Merciful Jesus created by him at the request of subsequent "clients" is astonishing - according to researchers, there are about 230 of them. Thus, about one painting of Jesus per month came from his brush - the painter died in 1965. The Lord's ways are strange, but as he himself said to Sister Faustina, who was worried about the painting: " Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace." (Diary 313)

What significance did the apparitions of Saint Faustina have for the history of the Church?

They are one of the most important private revelations in the history of the Church. And the development of the Devotion of Divine Mercy according to the forms given by sister Faustina is a worldwide religious phenomenon. It shows how important the cult of Divine Mercy is for modern people and the world. The same in the 20th century as today – 21st Century. The message of God's Mercy, given to the Church and the world by Sister Faustina, reminds us that God's greatest attribute, described in the Holy Scriptures, is mercy. God loves every human being and everyone at any moment, even though if he went far away, always he could return to union with him.

In the 20th century, there was a powerful eruption of evil in the form of the First and Second World Wars. On the one hand, this evil was caused by man, and on the other hand, man became his victim. The message of Divine Mercy, passed on to Sister Faustina in the interwar period, was a reminder, giving hope that every human being: whether the one who is the perpetrator of evil, also systemic evil, or the one who is his victim, can leave this circle. Good is always greater than evil.

In his book Memory and Identity, Saint John Paul II wrote, “The limit imposed upon evil, of which man is both perpetrator and victim, is ultimately the Divine Mercy.” The entire "Diary" of sister Faustina, which is a record of the revelation, says that all sinners, even the greatest ones, and even at the last moment of their lives, can receive God's mercy. There is only one thing need - the will to return to union with God. In other words, for the act of mercy to take place - as Fr. Józef Tischner wrote about before his death, referring to the parable of the prodigal son - two keys are needed: one is in the hand of the Father-God, and the other is in the Son's hand.

Until Tomorrow

fr. george