St. Faustina was born in 1905, in a small village called Glogowiec in Poland. As early as seven years old she felt a calling to the monastic life. When she was 18, she asked her parents for permission to enter a convent, but they refused. In her desire to be obedient to them, Faustina tried to stifle the inner voice of her vocation. In her diary she recalls that one day she saw the flagellated Christ, who spoke to her in these words: "How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off?" This was the turning point at which she finally resolved to become a nun. In 1925 she was received into the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw, taking the name of Maria Faustina.
St. Faustina was a mystic who had many visions of Christ. These she recorded in her diary, which she was urged to keep by her confessor. Jesus entrusted her with the mission of proclaiming to the whole world the truth of Divine Mercy. He conveyed to her His will that a Feast of Divine Mercy be instituted on the first Sunday after Easter, and he bade her paint a reproduction of her vision, which she was to furnish with the inscription: "Jesu, I trust in You", that it might be venerated across the world. He also dictated to her a special prayer, called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, promising that all those who pray it will know His Mercy both in their lifetime and at their death.
St. Faustina died in Krakow in 1938 at the age of 33, of tuberculosis. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Quotes from St. Faustina
"He who knows how to forgive prepares for himself many graces from God. As often as I look upon the cross, so often will I forgive with all my heart."
"Oh, if only the suffering soul knew how it is loved by God, it would die of joy and excess of happiness! Some day, we will know the value of suffering, but then we will no longer be able to suffer. The present moment is ours."
"Suffering is great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love."