(1905-1938) Helena Kowalska, the apostle of Divine Mercy, was the third of 10 children in a poor Polish family. She only received three years of schooling before working as a domestic servant. At 20, she was rejected by several orders for lack of education and eventually joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw, taking the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Jesus appeared to Sister Faustina several times, asking her to be the apostle and secretary of His Divine Mercy. She died of tuberculosis at age 33, leaving her diary of Divine Mercy and having commissioned the image requested by Christ.
The message of Divine Mercy highlights the phrase, “Jesus, I trust in You.” In recovery, this reminds us how completely and honestly we are to embrace Step 2: “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
[Jesus said,] “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” (Diary of Saint Faustina).
Reflection by Brad Farmer