On that day, Jesus appeared as the Divine Mercy to St. Faustina in her room at the convent in Płock, Poland. With rays emanating from His Heart, He told her, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 47). Significant date The late Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, translator of the Diary into English and one of the great teachers of the devotion to the Divine Mercy, saw significance in the date of this appearance. February 22, 1931, was the first Sunday of Lent, the designated Feast of Orthodoxy, celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite to commemorate the return of icons to the churches and an end to the heresy of iconoclasm, the destruction of sacred images. In other words, on the feast day devoted to sacred icons, Jesus’ instructions to St. Faustina underscored the graces He makes available to us through the veneration of sacred images. The Divine Mercy Image, given to the world through St. Faustina, is now one of the most recognized and venerated religious images in the entire world. “To me, it speaks that Jesus wanted to initiate something We are in a year of profoundly significant anniversaries for the Divine Mercy movement and the Marian Fathers’ Congregation. The beginning of the spread of the Divine Mercy message and devotion, according to the revelations of St. Faustina, came 95 years ago, on Feb. 22, 1931. Marian Helper • Spring 2026 • Marian.org 9 95 Years of Divine Mercy By Chris Sparks Continued on page 10
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