The Divine Mercy image painted at Jesus' request and according to Saint Faustina's vision

Born in 1905 into a large, poor and religious Polish family, Helena Kowalska entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw in 1925 at the age of twenty, taking the name Sister Faustina. During her thirteen years as a nun, she had many apparitions of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and wrote down all the words she received from them in a Diary, discovered after her death. The most important of these apparitions took place on 22 February 1931, at the monastery in Płock, when she had a vision of the Merciful Christ. The Lord asked her to paint an image with the inscription "Jesus, I trust in you" in order to make God's mercy known to the world. "I am giving people a means by which they can come and draw graces from the source of mercy. That means is this image"(Diary, 327). Jesus gave Faustina the mission of spreading this image and this message throughout the world - a mission that was continued by Father Michel Sopocko, Sister Faustina's confessor, after her death.

Les raisons d'y croire :

• When Father Michal Sopocko met Sister Faustina in 1933, he was puzzled and sceptical, and asked for an analysis of the nun's mental and physical health. The tests were positive in every respect, and he was gradually convinced of her sincerity, lucidity and mental equilibrium, eventually helping her carry out the mission entrusted to her by Jesus.

• The letters of correspondence between Father Sopocko and the saint have been found and authenticated. These writings corroborate the chronology of events relating to Saint Faustina's visions and the painting of the Divine Mercy.

• Sister Faustina had no knowledge of religious art and she barely knew the catechism. Without external inspiration, she could not have imagined a painting of such spiritual significance.

• Similarly, many theologians recognise that her intuition about divine mercy has subtleties and an accuracy that can only be explained by supernatural illumination and action.

• The first picture of the Divine Mercy was painted in 1934 by Eugene Kazimirowski in Vilnius. For six months, Sister Faustina followed the progress of the painting twice a week, continually asking for corrections. Because she didn't rely on her imagination but her memory, she quickly and accurately pinpointed the details that needed to be changed.

• Sister Faustina expressed her disappointment that the image was not faithful enough to her vision. She said to the Lord: "Who will paint you as beautiful as you are?" He replied: "The greatness of this painting lies not in the beauty of the colours or the brushstrokes, but in my grace."From that moment, something happened, and the painting was quickly completed.

• The face of the Merciful Jesus has the same characteristics (proportions and facial features) as that of the Shroud of Turin. Indeed, Christ himself said: "My gaze on this image is the same as my gaze on the Cross" (Diary, 326).

• The preservation of the original painting for decades, despite transfers as far away as Belarus and under an anti-clerical Communist regime, is providential in many ways. Through a series of events that cannot all be attributed to chance, the intact painting finally found its way back to Vilnius, where it had been painted. It is now housed at the shrine of the Divine Mercy.

• In accordance with Christ's wishes, the image of the Merciful Jesus, printed in several versions, has spread everywhere, and has become one of the most famous representations of Christ. No one could have foreseen this success, especially as the Church initially asked that the miraculous origin of the painting should not be divulged.

• "Through this painting many graces will be granted to souls, so it must be accessible to all" (Diary, 570). In fact, countless people claim to have received graces of conversion, reconciliation, inner and physical healing and material help when they placed their trust in the Divine Mercy through this image.