Third among 10 children, Faustina Kowalska was born on August 25, 1905 in Poland. Her birth name was Helena Kowalska. They were poor peasants, her father was a farmer and carpenter. At a young age of seven, she already felt the call to religious life. However, even after receiving her basic education, she was not permitted by her parents to join the convent.
At the age of 16, she started working as a housekeeper to support herself and her family. It was during this time that she received the Sacrament of Confirmation. When she was 19 years old, she received a vision instructing her to join the convent in Warsaw. She went to Warsaw without the permission of her parents and started looking for convents. She had a hard time finding a convent that would accept her due to her poverty. She finally found a convent that accepted her, the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The convent allowed her to stay as long as she worked as a housemaid to earn her keep. In 1926, she was officially admitted to the convent and finally clothed in the habit. After completing her novitiate in 1928, she took her first religious vows. Her parents were present when took her vows.
On February 22, 1931, she received a vision of the Divine Mercy of Jesus. From then on, she devoted her work to spreading the image of the Divine Mercy along with the signature “Jesus, I trust in you”.
In 1938, her health started deteriorating and she returned home to Krakow. She died on October 5th of that year. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 18, 1993. She was then canonized on April 30, 2000.
