Praised be Jesus Christ and blessed be the Virgin Mary, Our Mother. Amen.
February 22nd, 1931 was the first time that Sister Faustina saw Jesus as He is in the
image of the Lord of mercy.
She says: In the evening, while in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus dressed in a white robe.
He had one hand raised to bless and with the other He touched the robe on His chest.
From the opening of the robe on His chest, two great rays came out: one red and one pale.
Silently, attentively, she looked at the Lord.
My soul was filled with fear, but also with great joy.
After a moment, Jesus said to me: Paint an image according to the model you see, and
sign: Jesus, I trust in You.
I want this image to be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the world.
I promise that the soul that venerates this image will not perish.
I also promise, already here on earth, victory over enemies and, above all, at the time of
death.
I Myself will defend it as My glory.
When I told the confessor, I received the reply that it referred to my soul.
He told me: "Paint the image of God on your soul."
When I left the confessional, I heard these words again: My image is in your soul.
I wish there was a feast of mercy.
I want this image that you will paint with the brush to be solemnly blessed on the first
Sunday after Easter; that Sunday should be the feast of mercy.
I want the priests to proclaim this great mercy that I have to sinful souls.
May the sinner not be afraid to approach Me.
I am burning with the flames of mercy and I wish to pour them out on human souls.
Once, when the confessor told me to ask the Lord Jesus for the meaning of the two rays
that are in this image, I answered that I would ask the Lord.
During the prayer I heard these words inwardly: The two rays signify blood and water.
The pale ray symbolizes the water that justifies souls.
The red ray symbolizes the blood that is the life of the souls.
Both rays sprang from the deepest entrails of my mercy when my dying Heart was opened
on the cross by the spear.
These rays protect souls from My Father's indignation.
Blessed is he who lives in their shadow, because he will not reach the just hand of God.
I wish the first Sunday after Easter to be the Feast of Mercy.
Again the confessor asked me how the inscription should be placed, since all that did not fit
in the image.
I replied that I would pray and give the answer the following week.
As I left the confessional, and passed near the Blessed Sacrament, I received an inner
understanding of how the inscription should be.
Jesus reminded me of what He had said to me the first time, that is, that these words
should be brought out.
The words are these: "Jesus, I trust in You."
I understood that Jesus wanted that phrase to be placed.
He said: I offer men a container with which they will come to the Fountain of mercy to
collect graces.
That container is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You.
Jesus also told me: My look in this image is the same as the look from the cross.
Father Sopocko stated: Out of curiosity rather than belief in the reality of her visions,
I decided to have the picture painted and I agreed with Eugenio Kazimirowski, a painter
who lived with me in the same house.
The Superior gave Saint Faustina permission to go twice a week to give the painter directions.
The work was finished in June or July 1934.
She regretted that the image was not as beautiful as the one she had seen, but Jesus reassured
her that it was fine.
I began a search in the writings of the holy Fathers of the Church to see if mercy was
the highest attribute of God and with great joy I found similar expressions in Saint Fulgencio,
Saint Ildefonso and, even more, in Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine of Hippo, who,
commenting on the psalms, speaks of divine mercy as the highest attribute of God.
From that moment I had no doubts about the supernatural character of the apparitions
to Saint Faustina and I began to publish articles on divine mercy in theology magazines, raising
the need to institute a feast of divine mercy on the Sunday after Easter.
Saint Faustina tells us: When I was in the studio of that painter who painted that image,
I saw that He was not as beautiful as Jesus is.
I was very sorry for that, yet I hid it deep in my heart.
When we left the painter's workshop, the Mother Superior stayed in the city to solve different
issues, I returned home alone.
I immediately went to the chapel and cried a lot.
I said to the Lord: “Who will paint You as beautiful as You are?
In response I heard these words: "Not in the beauty of color, nor in the brush is the greatness
of this image, but in My grace".
In Vilnius on October 26th, 1934, Saint Faustina tells us that one afternoon: She was going
to dinner with the schoolgirls in the garden.
It was ten minutes to six.
And I saw the Lord Jesus on top of our chapel under the same appearance that He had when
she had seen Him for the first time as He is painted in this image.
The two rays that came out of the Heart of Jesus enveloped our chapel and the infirmary
and then the whole city; and spread over the whole world.
That lasted maybe four minutes and disappeared.
Jesus said: I want this image to be displayed in public on the first Sunday after Easter.
That Sunday is the Feast of Mercy.
Through the Incarnate Word I make known the abyss of My mercy.
As requested by the Lord, the first act of veneration of this image by the public took
place on the first Sunday after Easter, in 1935.
For three days the image was exposed in public and received public veneration, because it
had been placed in a large window at the top.
Therefore, it was seen from far away.
During those three days, the closing of the Jubilee of the Redemption of the world, the
19th centenary of the Lord's Passion, was celebrated with solemnity.
Now I see that the work of Redemption is linked to the work of mercy that the Lord demands.
On Friday, April 26th, 1935, Saint Faustina had collaborated in adorning the image of
the Lord of divine mercy.
It was exposed for the first time to the veneration of the faithful in the Ostra Brama shrine
for the celebration of the Jubilee of Redemption.
It was April 28th, the first Sunday after Easter, the feast of the Lord's mercy or the
Lord of mercy.
She tells us: When this image was exposed, I saw a live movement of the hand of Jesus
that traced a great sign of the cross.
At night on the same day, when I went to bed, I saw that the image was passing over a city
and that city was covered with nets and traps.
Jesus, as He passed, cut all the nets and at last made a great sign of the holy cross
and disappeared.
And I saw myself surrounded by many evil figures that burned with great hatred towards me.
Different threats came out of their mouths, but none touched me.
After a moment that vision disappeared, but I couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
On Friday, when I was in Ostra Brama during the solemnities in which this image was exposed,
I was present at the homily that my confessor said.
The homily was on divine mercy, it was the first of those that the Lord Jesus demanded
for a long time.
When he began to speak of this great mercy of the Lord, the image took on a living aspect
and the rays penetrated the hearts of the gathered people, but not to an equal degree,
some received more and others less.
A great joy flooded my soul seeing the grace of God.
Then I heard these words: You are a witness of My mercy.
Forever you will stand before My throne as a living witness of My mercy.
After the homily, I did not wait for the end of the service, because I was in a hurry to
go home.
As I took a few steps, a whole multitude of demons blocked my path, threatening me with
terrible torments, and voices were heard: "You have taken away everything we had worked
for so many years."
When I asked them, "Where do they come from in such a crowd?"
These evil figures answered me: "From human hearts, do not bother us."
Seeing his tremendous hatred towards me, then I asked the guardian angel for help and in
a moment the luminous and radiant figure of the guardian angel appeared who told me: "Do
not be afraid, wife of my Lord, these spirits are not going to do anything wrong to you
without His permission ”. The evil spirits quickly disappeared and the faithful guardian
angel visibly accompanied me to the house.
His gaze was modest and serene, and a ray of fire came out from his forehead.
Oh Jesus, I would like to get tired and suffer throughout my life for this unique moment
when I saw your glory, Lord, and the benefits of souls.
After the feast of the Divine Mercy in Ostra Brama, the picture painted by Eugenio Kazimirowski
returned to the wall of the corridor of the convent of the Bernardine sisters.
There the image stayed for two years.
Only in April 1937 Sister Faustina's confessor, Father Sopocko, asked the Archbishop of Vilnius
to be able to place the painting in the church of St. Michael.
The archbishop determined that the picture of Merciful Jesus be examined by a commission
and on April 2nd he gave permission to place it in the church.
Today that painting is in the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius.
In 1942 the Mother Superior arranged for another picture of the Merciful Jesus to be painted
by artist Stanislao Batowski and placed in the General House in Warsaw.
The painter Adolfo Hyla, who was a neighbor of the house in Warsaw, wanted to give a picture
of the merciful Jesus as a gift, because during the Second World War, God had preserved his
family from death.
On March 7th, 1943, the painting was blessed by Father Andrasz.
This painting has become famous for the innumerable graces that God has granted through it and
it is placed in the convent of Krakow.
Praised be Jesus Christ and blessed be the Virgin Mary, Our Mother. Amen.