Saint Faustina, Virgin

Patroness of the Congregation

Faustina (Helena) Kowalska was born in 1905, in Głogowiec near Łódź, to a large peasant family. After some years of domestic service in wealthy houses, she joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. In the convent, she zealously carried out the duties of cook, gardener, and porter. She led an unusually rich interior life, endowed with many spiritual gifts. Her mission consisted of reminding the whole world about the truth of God’s merciful love, communicating a new form of The Divine Mercy devotion, and inspiring religious renewal in the spirit of this devotion. She died in 1938 in Krakow. She left behind a spiritual diary, which is one of the outstanding works of mystical literature.