Christ wanted this message to reach all people, in particular those who, “tormented by especially painful experiences, or, bearing the weight of many previously committed sins, have lost all hope in life and are subject to the temptation of despair” (John Paul II, Lagiewniki, 7 June 1997). Such people had no cause to fear – said Jesus – because His mercy far exceeds any human distress, however great it might be. By His passion, death and resurrection Jesus had triumphed over evil; and now He was inviting everyone to avail themselves of the fruits of Salvation.

 

The place God chose to pour out His graces and bestow His gift of mercy is the Shrine of Cracow-Lagiewniki in Poland. “Anyone may go there, gaze on the image of the merciful Jesus with the graces radiating from His heart and hear in the depths of his soul what St. Faustina heard: Fear nothing; I am always with you (Diary, 613). Whoever answers with a sincere heart, Jesus, I trust in You! will find solace for all their fears and anxieties “ (John Paul II, Lagiewniki, 7 June 1997). Lagiewniki is closely connected with the person and message of St. Faustina. It was here that the apostle of Divine Mercy spent many years of her life. It was here that she died and where her remains lie buried. In a special way also Lagiewniki was linked with the life of Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II: “During the Second World War, I worked as a laborer in the Solvay factory, near the monastery of Lagiewniki. I often visited the grave of Sister Faustina, who at that time was not yet beatified. Everything about her was extraordinary, impossible to foresee in such a simple girl. How could I have imagined that one day I would beatify her and canonize her? She entered the convent in Warsaw, and was later sent to Vilnius, and finally to Cracow. A few years before the war, she had a great vision of the merciful Jesus, who called her to be apostle of the devotion to the Divine Mercy, later to spread throughout the Church, Sister Faustina died in 1938. Devotion to the Divine Mercy began in Cracow, and from there took on a worldwide dimension. When I become archbishop of Cracow, I asked Professor Father Ignacy Różycki to examine her writings. At first he didn’t want to. But later he agreed, and went on to make a thorough study of the available documents. Finally he said, “she’s a wonderful mystic” (John Paul II Rise, let us be on our way, p. 194).

 

We encourage all other readers to read St. Faustina’s Diary, and if at all possible to visit the Divine Mercy Shrine and live mercy every day. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Mt 5 : 7).