Brief History of the Divine Mercy Message and Devotion
From the early years of her life until her death at the
age of 33 in 1938, Our Lord Jesus Christ communed with a young Polish
nun named Sister Helena Faustina Kowalska in a way "so
intimately as with no other creature (Diary, 707)". Jesus
chose this simple, uneducated nun as the instrument by which to exhort
the world to TRUST IN HIS MERCY. Out of obedience to the command given
to her by Jesus through her spiritual director, Father Sopocko, and
later at the command given to her by Jesus directly, St. Faustina kept a
diary:
"Secretary of My most profound
mystery, know that yours is an exclusive intimacy with Me. Your task is
to write down everything that I make known to you about My mercy, for
the benefit of those who by reading these things will be comforted in
their souls and will have the courage to approach Me. I therefore want
you to devote all your free moments to writing. "But, O Lord, shall
I always have a moment, at least a brief one, in which to write?" And
Jesus answered, It is not for you to think about that. Only do as
much as you can, and I will always arrange things so that you will
easily be able to do what I ask of you... (Diary, 1693)".
Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to the
Divine Mercy as revealed in her diary had begun to spread. Although some
of her peers suspected her intimate communion with the Lord, no one,
other than her superiors who promoted this work of Divine Mercy, was
aware that it had come about through her. By 1953, 25 million pieces of
Divine Mercy literature had been distributed throughout the world.
Then in 1958, the prophecy which the Holy Spirit had
inspired St. Faustina to record in her diary began to come true: "There
will come a time when this work, which God is demanding so very much,
will be as though utterly undone. And then God will act with great
power, which will give evidence of its authenticity. It will be a new
splendor for the Church... (Diary, 378)." And so, the Holy See,
having received erroneous and confusing translations of diary entries,
which it was unable to verify due to existing political conditions,
forbade the spreading of the Divine Mercy message and devotion in the
form proposed by the diary.
In 1978 the ban was completely lifted thanks to Cardinal
Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) and the uncovering of many documents
that were not available in 1959. Since then, the message and devotion to
the Divine Mercy has spread rapidly, helped along by the support of Pope
John Paul II who is known as the "Mercy Pope" and who said that
spreading the message of God's mercy was his "special task". Pope John
Paul II beatified St. Faustina in 1993 and canonized her on Divine Mercy
Sunday in 2000 as the 1st saint of the 3rd
millenium. Pope John Paul II died on April 2, the vigil of Divine Mercy
Sunday, in 2005.
Click on the Below Image to Hear a sample of the
Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Song Prayer
"Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy...."
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