Sister Faustina (1905-1938) was a member of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland.

Saint Faustina's mission to mankind began when she had a vision of Jesus Christ on Feb. 22, 1931. He came with a message of trust in God's mercy that she was told to spread throughout the world.

He asked her to be the apostle and secretary of His mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for reemphasizing God's plan of mercy for the world.

Jesus told her to keep a journal or diary of her mystical experiences. Only a few of her superiors, her confessor, and spiritual director knew of her visions and revelations. Sister Faustina was told by Jesus that He wished a portrait of Himself made so that the world could gaze at this painting and come to know his merciful love. The picture was to have the words, "Jesus, I Trust in You," written at the bottom of it. Sister FaustinaÕs spiritual director arranged for an artist to produce a painting under St. Faustina's direction, rendering her vision of the merciful Savior.

Christ's message in His revelations to St. Faustina was that this is a time for mercy. The times we live in, more than any other in history, call for a great outpouring of the mercy of God. As a result, the revelations to Faustina became known as "The Message of Divine Mercy" and Jesus received a new title -- "The Divine Mercy" -- similar to "The Sacred Heart" as a renaming of Jesus himself.

Following her death, the message of God's mercy, as revealed to Faustina, began to spread. However, because of the political situation in Poland during and after the war, it was difficult for the Church to authenticate Faustina's writings. As a result, the Vatican imposed a ban on spreading the message of mercy according to these revelations.

Once the writings were examined, scholars and theologians were astounded that a simple nun with hardly two winters of formal education was able to write so clearly -- and with such detail and simplicity about the mystical life. Her writings were found to be entirely theologically correct, and are numbered among the greatest works of mystical literature.

The foremost champion of the Divine Mercy message in our day has been Pope John Paul II.

Not only was he instrumental in having the ban on the spread of the message lifted, but he made Divine Mercy the theme of the second encyclical of his pontificate -- "Dives in Misericordia."

During his visit to Faustina's tomb on June 7, 1997, he even stated that Divine Mercy has "formed the image of his pontificate."

Mere months before being named pope, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, Poland, after years of exhaustive work, succeeded in having the ban on Faustina's writings lifted.

Since that time, Pope John Paul II has promoted Divine Mercy and championed the cause of St. Faustina and her writings. He's become known as "The Mercy Pope."