Divine Mercy (Our Lord to St. Faustina)

Apparitions of Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska in Poland, asking for the Divine Mercy image, the Chaplet, and a feast of Divine Mercy. The Holy See cleared the devotion; St. John Paul II canonized Faustina and instituted Divine Mercy Sunday.

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938), a Sister of Our Lady of Mercy, recorded in her Diary a series of apparitions and locutions of the Lord Jesus that form the core of the modern Divine Mercy devotion.

In February 1931 at Płock, Faustina reported seeing Jesus clothed in white, with rays of red and pale light streaming from His Heart, and hearing the command to paint an image according to the pattern shown, bearing the signature 'Jesus, I trust in You.' Further revelations asked for a feast of Divine Mercy on the Sunday after Easter, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy prayed on ordinary rosary beads, prayer at the Hour of Mercy (3:00), and the spreading of trust in God's mercy toward sinners. Much of her later religious life unfolded in Kraków; the sanctuary at Łagiewniki became the world center of the devotion.

After a period in which circulation of the Diary was restricted, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cleared the way for the devotion (1978–79). Pope John Paul II beatified and then canonized Faustina (2000), entrusted the world to Divine Mercy at the Kraków shrine, and instituted Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church. The Diary is published with ecclesiastical approval as a record of private revelation, not as a substitute for Scripture or dogma.

Ecclesial character. Catalog status is Holy See recognition through clearance of the devotion, the canonization of the visionary, and the universal feast. Belief in the private revelations remains non-obligatory; the Church invites the faithful to trust in God's mercy and to practice mercy toward others in light of the Gospel.