Divine Mercy – The History

With these words, our Lord Jesus Christ, on February 22, 1931, communicated to St. Faustina Kowalska how His image of Mercy should be painted, for—according to the Saint’s accounts—

the importance of the painting lies not in the beauty of the colors but in the greatness of the Lord’s Graces for the souls who can venerate it.

The canvas was painted by artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski at the request of Sister Faustina’s spiritual director, Father Michael Sopoćko. The artist began on January 2, 1934 (note: correcting 1931 from original text based on historical record), in a small dwelling near the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Vilnius and took about 6 months to complete the painting.
During the work, the painter carefully followed the instructions of St. Faustina, who was particularly demanding in order to obtain an image faithful to the vision she received.
The first public exhibition of the canvas of the Merciful Savior took place on April 26-28, 1935, near the chapel of the icon of the Mother of Mercy at the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius (during those days, the second Sunday of Easter was celebrated, as if it were the Lord’s will to show His image to the world during such a solemn period).

It is also said that some faithful remarked: “The Virgin Mary has found her Son and the Son His Mother”; in fact, the highly venerated icon of the Madonna is portrayed without the Child Jesus.

For the devotion to Divine Mercy, the painting of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius plays a fundamental role, as she is considered by both Orthodox and Catholics as the Mother of Mercy (the one who gave life to Mercy) and the Madonna of Mercy (the one who is merciful toward others).
To this day, many miracles are attributed to this image of the Virgin Mary.

During her visions, Saint Faustina also received the task of bringing to light a new religious congregation, which was founded in 1947 by Father Michael Sopoćko after the Saint’s death. The sisters of the community begin every action by repeating several times: “Jesus, I trust in You.”

One of the 33 religious houses of the congregation is located next to the Church of the Sacred Heart in Vilnius.

In 1937, the painting of Merciful Jesus was exhibited in the Church of Saint Michael in Vilnius, where Father Sopoćko was the parish priest. After a few years, having obtained several positive opinions from experts of the Holy See, the painting was defined as a precious heritage of religious art.
Following the closure of the Church of Saint Michael with the arrival of the Communists, the painting was purchased in 1948—presumably for a bottle of vodka—by two devotees of Divine Mercy, one Lithuanian and one Polish. The women hid it for quite some time in an attic, and only in 1956 did Father Józef Grasewicz, a friend of Father Sopoćko, decide to transfer it from the Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, where it had meanwhile been hidden, to Nowa Ruda.
The painting remained in Poland (at that time Belarusian territory) for about 30 years, eventually ending up abandoned in a small wooden church for almost the entire Soviet period.
The multiple requests and attempts by Father Michael Sopoćko to bring the painting back to Lithuania remained unfulfilled until his death; in fact, in 1986, the canvas returned to Vilnius to the Church of the Holy Spirit after various restorations, where it remained until September 2005.

Today, the painting is located in the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Vilnius, where it is daily venerated by many pilgrims from all over the world.

The bond between the message of Divine Mercy and St. John Paul II is deep and inseparable. It was the Polish Pope himself who became the spokesperson for the message entrusted to St. Faustina, defining it as God’s response to the tragedies of the 20th century and the “limit imposed upon evil.”

The Canonization of St. Faustina

On April 30, 2000, during the second Sunday of Easter, St. John Paul II proclaimed the humble Polish nun a saint before thousands of faithful. On that historic occasion, the Pope fulfilled the request that Jesus had made to Faustina decades earlier, officially declaring: “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday’.”

The Meaning of the Feast of Divine Mercy

Jesus had explicitly asked Saint Faustina for the institution of this solemnity: “I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy” (Diary, 299). The purpose of this recurrence is not only the exterior veneration of the image but the offering of a refuge and shelter for all souls, especially for poor sinners who need it most.

The Extraordinary Promises and the Remission of Sins

In the Diary, Jesus links an immense promise to this Sunday:

“The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment” (Diary, 699).

This grace is superior to a normal plenary indulgence, as it involves the complete erasure not only of temporal punishment but of every trace of sin, returning the soul to a state of purity similar to that of Baptism.
With the official act of 2000, the Church made this spiritual treasure accessible to all the faithful, confirming that Mercy is the last hope of salvation offered by Christ to all humanity.

To deepen your understanding of the theological significance of Mercy, you can read the homily of the canonization of Saint Faustina written by Saint John Paul II on the official website of the Holy See.
Article prepared by the Editorial Team of Merciful Jesus, experts in Divine Mercy spirituality.