Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her LIfe and MIssion

In th is image i t is not we who approach the Lord, b u t He who makes the f ir s t step, coming towards us w ith a gesture of blessing and merciful forgiveness. The central point in th is picture is formed by both the rays. A double action is tak ing place: we a re drawn into the orbit of the action of Divine Mercy by the gesture of blessing, and simultaneously made conscious of th is by th e indication to us of th e source from which Mercy flows to us, which is hidden in th e b re a s t of the Lord as if w ithin a costly shrine. Thus contact between us who look, and Jesu s , is made above all by His move­ m en t and gesture. Je su s directs our whole a tten tion to the contents of His Heart. Even His slightly downcast eyes take us in th e same direction. F a the r Sopocko was not delighted with the picture when he saw it. I t was obvious th a t Kazimierowski had no t portrayed th e marvellous vision of S ister Faus tina sufficiently convincingly. Bu t he had faithfully followed the directions she had given him. There m u s t have been many detailed instructions, for if we calculate on only one v isit a week - and we know th a t there were more, though no t regu lar - S ister F au s tina m us t have been in the a r t is t ’s studio more th an a score of times. She had thus had the chance to check exactly, as work progressed, th a t there were no deviations from he r vision and to supplement instruc tions detail by detail. Hence th is picture, although no t an artis tic m as te r­ piece, is th e basis for the devotion, for i t is an i r ­ replaceable witness as to how Je su s appeared to S ister F au s tina as King of Mercy. I t augments, in a visual form, w ha t we can find in the Diary on th is subject. S ister F au s tina was even less pleased th an F a th e r Sopocko. Disappointed, and depressed because the a r t is t had no t re-created the dazzling charm of w ha t she had passed on to him , she complained to Jesus: "Once, zvfien I was visiting the artist who was painting the image and saw that it was not as 6eautifuC 164