Wednesday marked the feast of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish woman who had a vision of Jesus describing His Divine Mercy, and Catholics around the world celebrated her.

“Today we remember #StFaustinaKowalska,” Pope Francis tweeted. “Through her, God taught the world to seek salvation in his mercy. Let us remember this especially when thinking of the war in #Ukraine. Let us trust in God's mercy which can change hearts. #Peace” 

The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee also tweeted about her, saying, “Faustina attempted to set up a new congregation for Divine Mercy in 1936. Jesus said to her, "My Daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My Divine Mercy, I will make up for what you lack. St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, please pray for us!” 

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, originally named “Helena,” was born in Poland on Aug. 25, 1905. She became a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy when she was 20, at which time she took the name “Maria Faustina.” She died on Oct. 5, 1938.

St. Faustina is known for keeping a diary, in which she wrote that Jesus appeared to her wearing white with “red and pale rays emanating from his heart” according to the National Catholic Register (NCR). 

At one point, she tells of a vision of Jesus, where he told her: "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You’ [in Polish: “Jezu, ufam Tobie”]. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish.” 

Her account of her vision of the Lord was meant to save souls as they came to believe in Jesus’ Divine Mercy. Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina in 2000. 

St. Faustina’s diary also includes a description of hell. During a retreat, an angel appeared to her and showed her “a place of ‘great torture’ and ‘fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it — a terrible suffering,’” according to the NCR’s excerpts from her diary. 

She was shown different levels of hell, similar to how Dante described it. 

“There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another,” she wrote, and "there are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings related to the manner in which it has sinned.” 

St. Faustina’s “Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul,” which is written in her own words, is available to buy on Amazon. 

Divinemercy.org credits St. Faustina, with her accounts of her visions, as helping the Church with its message of Divine Mercy. Pope St. John Paul II called her "the great apostle of Divine Mercy in our time." 

Some have suggested a prayer to her: “St. Faustina, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to 'distribute graces as you will, to whom you will, and when you will.' Relying on this, we ask your intercession for the graces we need, especially for the intentions just mentioned. Help us, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of our lives. Amen.” 

In an article for Aleteia, Philip Kosloski discusses St. Faustina’s devotion to the Rosary. He says she would pray the Rosary on Saturdays to remember the day the Blessed Virgin Mary prayed for her Son after he was crucified. A diary entry says she received a message from Jesus: “on Saturdays, to say five decades of the Rosary with outstretched arms,” which reinforced her commitment to saying it weekly. 

Her funeral coincidentally was held on Oct. 7, the feast of the Rosary.