The Story of Divine Mercy

The Divine Mercy message given to Sr Faustina by the Lord was meant for her personal faith growth and the benefit of the people. The Lord instructed her to have an image painted and venerated, and to spread the Chaplet and the Feast of Mercy globally. This message, starting from 1931 to 1938, was promoted by her spiritual directors and others, emphasizing God's eternal nature of Love and Mercy, revealed through Jesus Christ.

Ref: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/history

The Humble Instrument

Sister Faustina, an uneducated nun in the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland during the 1930s, came from a poor family that struggled through World War I. With only three years of basic education, she was assigned humble tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or garden. Despite this, she received extraordinary revelations from Jesus, who asked her to record these experiences in notebooks. Today, these notebooks are known as the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, containing God's loving message of Divine Mercy.

Spirituality of Divine Mercy - HOPE against Despair 

Trust - Completely Trust in Jesus

Trust in Jesus is the essence of the message of mercy. Imagine a public fountain where anyone can draw water if they have a vessel. The size of the vessel determines how much water they can collect—small vessels hold little water, large vessels hold much. The water is freely available to all, and no one is excluded.

Similarly, God's mercy is abundant and accessible to everyone. In repeated revelations to St Faustina, Our Divine Savior made it clear that the fountain is His Heart, the water is His mercy, and the vessel is trust.

I have opened My Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust (Diary, 1520). On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls — no one have I excluded! (1182). I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You" (327). The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is — trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive (1578).

In the Diary of St Faustina, Our Lord reminds us of His dependable love and that He alone is worthy of our trust: "I never reject a contrite heart" (1485) and "Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy not embrace a trusting soul" (1777).

Trust is more than believing in God's trustworthiness; it requires action. It involves turning back to God, repenting of our sins, and forgiving others—a living faith. Trust means letting God be God and allowing Him to guide our lives, as we pledge in the Our Father: "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

God is Mercy itself, and we are called to practice the ABC’s of mercy: Ask for His Mercy, Be merciful to others, and Completely trust in Jesus. Our trust in Jesus is essential. We ask with complete trust, and Our Lord fills us with grace to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful.

I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls (1074).

Ref: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/spirituality/trust