The Saints: St. Faustina

1905 - 1938 / Feast - Oct. 5

Born a poor Polish peasant, the teenage Helen worked as a maid and her parents, needing money, refused to let her become a nun. But in a vision, Christ directed her to Warsaw, where in 1925 she entered the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, taking the name Maria Faustina. Her visions of Jesus as the divine mercy continued, and proclaiming God’s mercy and love worldwide became her mission. She died of tuberculosis. When he canonized her in 2000, Pope John Paul II inaugurated the feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter.