Saint Faustina (1905-1938), also known as a Secretary of Divine Mercy, was an uneducated nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy who presented a message of Divine Mercy to the entire world. In her diary, written upon an order of her confessor Blessed Father Michał Sopoćko, she made know Jesus’ desire for all humanity to turn to His Divine Mercy. A visible sign of that devotion to Divine Mercy is a picture of Jesus Merciful painted under instructions given by S. Faustina. According to her diary, Jesus himself appeared to her several times. The first apparition took place in Plock, a city in about 100 km Northwest from Warsaw, Polish capital, on February 22nd, 1931. There in a convent house cell where Sister Faustina lived, Jesus appeared to her and told her to paint a picture according to what she saw:
“In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, ‘paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'”
In our church in the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin (on the right hand side facing the main altar) there’s a copy of the Divine Mercy picture. The first image was painted under the guidance of Sister Faustina in Vilnius in 1934. During World War II in Cracow in the convent house, where Sister Faustina died, two other pictures were painted under the guidance of Jesuit Father Joseph Andrasz, her confessor in Cracow. The third image was a copy of the second one and the reason for its creation was very simple – the previous one did not fit the space in the altar. The picture hanging in our church is a copy of the one/s in Cracow.