• Saint Faustina Kowalska, born Helena Kowalska (1905–1938), was a Polish nun and mystic known as the "Apostle of Divine Mercy". Her feast day is October 5.
• At age 20, a vision of the suffering Christ prompted her to leave home for Warsaw and seek out a convent. She was accepted into the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925, taking the name Sister Maria Faustina.
• As a simple nun, Faustina received extraordinary visions and revelations from Jesus. The core of the message Jesus revealed to her is God's profound and unconditional mercy for all of humanity.
• In one vision, Jesus asked Faustina to have an image painted of him with red and pale rays flowing from his heart. The painting was to bear the inscription, "Jezu, ufam Tobie," which means "Jesus, I trust in You". Jesus also dictated to her the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a special prayer that promises great mercy to those who recite it.
• Faustina's revelations also called for the establishment of a Feast of Divine Mercy, to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.
• Her diary, in which she wrote down the messages from Jesus, became the foundation for the Divine Mercy devotion