Medallas de Santa Faustina Kowalska

St. Faustina Kowalska is a Polish mystic and Roman Catholic saint who is patron of the Divine Mercy devotion, mystics, contemplatives, and Poland. Born Helena Kowalska in 1905 in rural Poland, she entered religious life as a Sister of Our Lady of Mercy and received a series of visions of Jesus beginning in 1931 in which he revealed the Divine Mercy image, the Chaplet, and the message that his mercy is available to every soul without limit. She documented these revelations in a diary of nearly 700 pages before dying of tuberculosis in Kraków on October 5, 1938 — the date now observed as her feast day. Pope John Paul II canonized her on April 30, 2000, making her the first saint of the new millennium.

Jesus revealed to St. Faustina a comprehensive devotion centered on his divine mercy, beginning with the command to have an image painted showing him with two rays of light — one red representing the blood of redemption, one white representing the water of baptism — and the inscription "Jesus, I Trust in You." He also gave her the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a prayer recited on rosary beads that offers his Body and Blood to the Father as an act of intercession for sinners, and he designated 3:00 p.m. as the Hour of Mercy, the time of his death on the cross, as a moment of especially powerful prayer. He further asked that a feast of Divine Mercy be established on the Sunday after Easter, a request fulfilled by Pope John Paul II when he canonized Faustina and proclaimed Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church in 2000. These revelations, recorded in her diary titled Divine Mercy in My Soul, form the theological and devotional foundation of one of the most widely practiced Catholic devotions of the modern era.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a prayer Jesus gave directly to St. Faustina in a vision in 1935 in Vilnius, instructing her to pray it on ordinary rosary beads as an act of intercession for sinners and as a way of appeasing God's justice. The chaplet opens with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed, then on each large bead the prayer "Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world," and on each small bead "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." Jesus promised Faustina that those who pray this chaplet would receive great mercy at the hour of death. Wearing a St. Faustina medal is a natural complement to this daily prayer practice, serving as a visible reminder of the trust in God's mercy that the chaplet expresses.

St. Faustina's feast day is October 5, the anniversary of her death in Kraków in 1938, and it is observed throughout the Catholic Church as a day to honor her life and the message of Divine Mercy she carried. Divine Mercy Sunday is a separate observance — the second Sunday of Easter — which Jesus specifically requested in his revelations to Faustina as a feast on which the floodgates of mercy would be opened to every soul that approaches the sacraments with repentance. Pope John Paul II formally established Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church on April 30, 2000, the same day he canonized Faustina in St. Peter's Square. Both dates — October 5 and Divine Mercy Sunday — are meaningful occasions to give a St. Faustina medal to someone who draws strength from this devotion.

The original Divine Mercy image was painted by Lithuanian artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski in Vilnius in 1934, working under the direction of Blessed Michał Sopoćko, St. Faustina's spiritual director, who commissioned the work based on her detailed descriptions of the vision she received in Płock in 1931. Faustina was reportedly disappointed that no human painter could fully capture what she had seen, saying the image's beauty could never equal the living Christ, but she affirmed that it carried the graces Jesus had promised. The painting depicts Jesus in white robes with his right hand raised in blessing and his left touching his heart, from which two rays of light — red and white — radiate outward. This image, now venerated in the Divine Mercy Shrine in Vilnius, is the one most often depicted on St. Faustina medals and in Divine Mercy devotional art worldwide.

Yes, every St. Faustina medal necklace sold at rosarycard.net is made in the United States by Bliss Manufacturing, a trusted American producer of Catholic medals with a long record of craftsmanship and quality. Each medal is available in sterling silver, 14kt gold filled, or 14kt solid gold, and every piece is backed by a lifetime guarantee — if the medal or chain has a defect or fails under normal wear, we will make it right at no cost to you. This commitment to domestic manufacturing and lasting quality means you are giving a medal that will endure as a devotional keepsake for years, not a disposable import. Orders over $40 ship free, making it practical to send a gift directly to the recipient in time for Divine Mercy Sunday, October 5, or any occasion that calls for a reminder of God's boundless mercy.