Divine Mercy image

History

Faustina Kowalska was a Polish nun who joined the convent of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw 1925. In her diary, which was later published as the book Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, Faustina wrote about a number of visions of Jesus and conversations with him. Her confessor was Michael Sopocko, a priest and a professor of theology.

In 1930, Faustina was assigned to the convent in Płock, Poland. Faustina stated that whilst she was in her cell on the night of Sunday, 22 February 1931, Jesus appeared to her as the "King of Divine Mercy", robed in a white garment.

Faustina wrote that Jesus' right hand was raised in a sign of blessing and the other was touching the garment near his breast, and that from beneath the garment slightly down, aside his breast, emanated two large rays, one red, the other white.

In her diary (Notebook 1, items 47 and 48), she wrote that Jesus told her:

Another nun, Sister Christine, later stated that rays of light from the window were visible that night and attracted the attention of people standing on the other side of the street, implying that this was a "physical" appearance rather than an interior vision.

Not knowing how to paint, Faustina approached some other nuns at her convent for help, but received no assistance. She attempted to sketch the image with charcoal on canvas, but had little success. In her diary (Notebook 1, item 53), she wrote that Jesus told her that she would receive "visible help" with the task. In November 1932, Faustina left Płock and returned to Warsaw, and in May 1933, she was sent to the convent in Vilnius to work as the gardener.

In Vilnius, Faustina met Father Michael Sopocko, the newly appointed confessor to the nuns. Sopocko supported Faustina's efforts and arranged for the first painting of the image by the artist Eugene Kazimierowski, which was the only rendition Faustina saw. After Faustina's death, a number of other artists painted their own versions of the image, with the depiction by Adolf Hyła being among the most reproduced.

Devotional significance

Not in the beauty of the colour, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace.
— Words attributed to Jesus by Faustina in her diary.

After the canonisation of Faustina in April 2000, devotion to the Divine Mercy and the image has increased. The devotional following of the image and Faustina's message has been stronger among Catholics at large than among theologians. Author Benedict Groeschel considers a modest estimate of the following in 2010 to be over one hundred million Catholics.

Faustina's diary relates the rays of light within the image to life and salvation, stating (Notebook 1, item 299) that she was told by Jesus:

Faustina also wrote that Jesus stressed the importance of the image as part of the Divine Mercy devotion, and in Notebook 1, item 327 attributed these words to Jesus:

Catholic devotions thus stress the importance of the image as a "conduit for grace" as part of the Divine Mercy message.

Faustina's diary also relates the image to Divine Mercy Sunday. Faustina wrote (Notebook 1, item 49) that Jesus told her that he wanted the Divine Mercy image to be "solemnly blessed" on the first Sunday after Easter; and that Sunday was to be the Feast of Mercy.

Pope John Paul II instituted Divine Mercy Sunday (Dominica II Paschae seu de divina misericordia) and placed it on the General Roman Calendar. The Divine Mercy image is often carried in processions on Divine Mercy Sunday, and is placed in a location in the church so that it can be venerated by those who attended the Mass.

The veneration of the Divine Mercy image also takes place in conjunction with the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Novena. The Vatican biography of Faustina states that the veneration of the Divine Mercy image is part of the second component of her message, namely "entreating God's mercy for the whole world". Praying before the Divine Mercy image (with the signature "Jesus I trust in you") is not only encouraged in Catholic devotions, but is mentioned as a partial condition for some of the indulgences associated with Divine Mercy Sunday.

First painting

The first painting was by Eugene Kazimierowski, under the supervision of Faustina and her confessor, Michael Sopocko, in Vilnius. After completion in 1934, the painting hung in the Bernardine Sisters' convent near the church of St. Archangel Michael, where Sopoko was a rector. In her diary, sister Faustina notes that Jesus told her to inform her confessor that the proper place for the painting was in a church, not in the hallway of a convent. The first public exposition of the Kazimierowski rendition was on 26–28 April 1935, at the church of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius. In 1937, on the Sunday after Easter, the current Feast of Divine Mercy, the picture was put on display beside the main altar in St Michael’s Church, Vilnius. The Soviet authorities, having occupied Lithuania, in 1948 closed St Michael's Church and destroyed the convent. The painting remained in the church building until 1951, when two pious women from Vilnius Bronė Miniotaitė and Janina Rodzevič bought the canvas from a guard and gave it to the parish priest at the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit for safekeeping. Professional restoration in the spring of 2003 left the image exactly as it was when Eugenijus Kazimierovskis painted it under the direction of Sister Faustina.

Sopocko was a professor of theology at the University of Vilnius and introduced Faustina to Kazimierowski, who was professor of art there. Kazimierowski had painted religious images before, but this task was difficult for him. Sopocko himself posed as Jesus for the image, wearing an alb, and both he and Faustina regularly visited the painter‘s workshop. The final painting satisfied neither Sopocko nor Faustina, who later wrote that Christ told her it is not that important that the picture be beautiful. The true beauty, Christ said, would be the blessing that He would bestow to the people by the means of the painting.

Hyła painting

Another painting of the Divine Mercy was made by Adolf Hyła, as a votive offering. Through painting this picture, Hyła expressed his gratitude for the survival of his family during World War II.

Hyła was given the descriptions from Faustina's diary by the nuns at the convent, and a small copy of the first painting. Hyła's image is somewhat different from Kazimierowski's, as the former figured Jesus as a "Divine Physician", walking the earth and healing people. He has Jesus approaching the viewer instead of merely standing. Christ's right hand is lifted up high in benediction, and He is looking into the eyes of the viewer. The original version of this painting had a country landscape in the background, which was removed in a later replica as it was deemed "non-liturgical".

The Hyła rendition is also called the "Kraków Divine Mercy Image" because it is kept in the sanctuary at Kraków-Łagiewniki.

Other versions

Before Adolf Hyła offered his votive painting, the sisters had commissioned Stanisław Batowski to paint a third version. This was lost in a fire, and Batowski painted a fourth painting which arrived at the convent at almost the same time as Hyła's. Cardinal Sapieha, who happened to be in the convent then, selected the Hyła painting because it was a votive image.

A number of other artists have painted the image, but Hyła's rendition remains the most reproduced one.

"The image of The Divine Mercy, painted by Adam Styka (1957), [is] displayed in the Sanctuary of The Divine Mercy at the Congregation of Marians in Stockbridge, MA USA." (Diary pictures of images). A popular image was created in 1982 by American artist Robert Skemp. This rendition depicts Jesus standing in front of an arched doorway, with a more pronounced halo about his head. The Skemp and Hyła images are the most ubiquitous depictions found in the Philippines, where the devotion to the Divine Mercy is a popular one.

The Divine Mercy Shrine, Misamis Oriental in El Salvador City, Philippines was built in 2008, and has a 15.24-metre (50 foot) statue of the Divine Mercy towering above the shrine.