Skip to main content

Saint Faustina

Saint Faustina: Feast Day Oct. 5th

Saint Faustina is one of my favorite saints. Her burning  love for Christ, her devotion of offering up everything she did for the conversion of sinners or people she encountered needing prayers, and her true childlike humility before the Lord are just some of the saintly qualities of hers that I admire.

Make no mistake about it, Saint Faustina is the Apostle of Divine Mercy! I don’t know if you’ve ever read Saint Faustina’s Diary, but if you haven’t, you definitely should! Her writings are filled with beautiful words from Jesus about his offering of mercy to those who gaze upon and venerate his Divine Mercy image, which he instructed Saint Faustina to have painted. 

Since early spring 2019, my family and I have grown in our love for Jesus’ message of Divine Mercy. In 2019 we attended a special Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter) Mass with confession, adoration, and reception of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus told Saint Faustina that his mercy and graces flow upon those who go to confession and receive Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday, and they will receive remission of their sins and pardoning from punishment. If you’ve never gone to confession and attended Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, please don’t miss receiving his beautiful gift. 

In the spring of 2019, my family also purchased a Divine Mercy image and had it blessed by our parish priest. We then formally enthroned it in our home on The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity which also happened to by Father’s Day that year. This year, 2020, on Divine Mercy Sunday we re-enthroned it together as a family. We now as a family try to pray at or close after 3:00pm (the hour of Divine Mercy) in front of our Divine Mercy paining. We pray the following prayer using the words under the paining and from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy Jesus taught Saint Faustina: “Jesus, I trust in you. Eternal Father, I offer you the body, blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Jesus’ Divine Mercy is a beautiful gift, and I believe it has helped grow and nurture my family’s faith in many ways. If you’re interested in learning more about Divine Mercy, I highly recommend reading Saint Faustina’s Diary or writings about Divine Mercy from Saint Pope John Paul II. Here also is further reading about the promises Christ makes for those who venerate and spread his message of Divine Mercy as well as an article about Saint Faustina and her feast day.


This is my family’s Divine Mercy painting. We hung it by our front door and at the bottom of our stairs leading up to our bedrooms. We see it first thing in the morning, on our way to bed, from the kitchen, and when we leave our home. If you and your family have or get an image of Divine Mercy, I highly recommend hanging your image somewhere where you will see it throughout the day and be reminded to say, “Jesus, I trust in you.” 

Celebrating Saint Faustina Through Food:

Since Saint Faustina was from Poland, and going along with the theme: “Make no mistake, Saint Faustina is the Apostle of Divine Mercy, we made Polish Mistakes for dinner. You can also make mint meringues, which are similar to “Divinities” but have less sugar, and call them “Divine Mercy Meringues.” 



Craft and Prayer Time:

Say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy together as a family. You can also listen to the beautiful song version of the chaplet below and sing together along with it. 


For a craft, draw and color a decade of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on a large sheet of paper or poster board. Hang the chaplet your family makes together in a prominent place in your home to remind you to say the chaplet together as a family.



Additional activity:

Watch the cartoon video below, from EWTN, about Saint Faustina as a family.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful day celebrating Saint Faustina! Saint Faustina, pray for us!







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feast Day: Nov. 17th  Saint Elizabeth of Hungary has always held a special place in my heart since she is my confirmation saint. If I'm being honest, when I was reading about saints back in the eighth grade, trying to choose which saint I wanted to take as my patron, my requirements were as follows: (1) She couldn't die a horrible death, (2) She was married with kids, (3) and her life was pretty good allowing her to serve God and others through the blessings she'd been given. In hindsight, my list of "requirements" was probably a little superficial, but now as an adult I focus more on the virtues and saintly qualities of Saint Elizabeth, and find inspiration in how she lived. She was humble, a kind and loving wife and mother, and very generous to the poor. She also made plenty of time to pray and grow in her relationship with the Lord. On her wedding day, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a princess, did not wear a crown. Instead she s...

Saint John Neumann

Saint John Neumann: Feast Day Jan. 5th Saint John Neumann, the first American Bishop to be canonized and Patron Saint of Catholic Education, has a special place in my heart. My late grandfather’s name was John Neumann, and when my brother was confirmed, he selected our grandfather to be his sponsor and chose Saint John Neumann as his patron. I like to reflect on the reality that as our grandfather, John Neumann, stood beside him as his sponsor, Saint John Neumann prayed in Heaven for my brother at his Confirmation. Aside from this neat family name connection with a Saint, as a former teacher I also find Saint John Neumann to be inspiring, since he helped increase the number of Catholic schools while he was Bishop of Philadelphia and brought numerous religious sisters into the schools to teach. Faith instruction of children and young people was definitely important to Saint John Neumann. If you are interested in reading more about Saint John Neumann, check out this article from Francis...

Study the Saints

Study the Saints: As I write this post, four days into the New Year, I’m called to reflect upon what New Year’s Resolution I can make that will be the most beneficial for my family and myself. A word that’s inspiring and that comes to mind is “Saints.” Celebrating the Saints on their feast days is wonderful and has been a blessing to my family. My children have learned about various holy men, women, and children from all places of the world and times in history, and they have been able to try foods from various cultures. I love how the Catholic Church is universal! Matthew Kelly wrote a book entitled Rediscover the Saints that I read last year, and I believe it has been part of a catalyst that has taken me to the next level of learning about the Saints. Celebrating saintly feast days is wonderful, but taking the time to read the actual writings of the Saints can be an even bigger game changer and blessing in your life and the lives of your family members. To date, I’ve only read the D...