Jesus, Mercy Incarnate

tion into His Church. It began when a simple Polish nun, Sr. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), with barely a third-grade educa- tion, wrote a diary which has been recognized as worthy of being numbered “among the outstanding works of mystical literature.” 8 Now declared “Saint” Faustina Kowalska, she has been called by Pope John Paul II “the great apostle of DivineMercy in our time.” 9 In St. Faustina we find a holy soul completely devoted to the Heart of Jesus, but in a new way. As she recorded in her diary: He brought me into such close intimacy with Himself that my heart was espoused to His Heart in a loving union, and I could feel the faintest stir of His Heart, and He of mine. The fire of my created love was joined with the ardor of His eternal love. 10 O my Jesus, each of your saints reflects one of your virtues; I desire to reflect Your compassionate Heart, full of mercy; I want to glorify it. Let Your Mercy, O Jesus, be impressed upon my heart and soul like a seal, and this will be my badge in this and the future life. 11 On several occasions Christ Himself emphasized that His Heart is the source of Divine Mercy for the world: My daughter, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy graces flow out upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from this fountain . 12 In another passage in her diary, St. Faustina poured out her soul in adoration of the living Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist: O living Host, my one and only strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, and fortify faint souls. Oh, blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most merciful Heart. 13 106 Jesus, Mercy Incarnate