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Origins and History of The Divine Mercy Image
On
February 22, 1931, Our Lord Jesus appeared to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska,
who recorded the event in her spiritual Diary:
In
the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white
garment. One hand [was] raised in the
gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside
at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other
pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed
on the Lord; my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy. After a while, Jesus said to me, Paint an
image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in
You. I desire that this image be
venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world (Diary 47).
I promise that the soul that will
venerate this image will not perish. I
also promise victory over[its] enemies already here on earth, especially at
the hour of death. I Myself will
defend it as My own glory (Diary48)
The two rays denote Blood and
Water. The pale ray stands for the
Water which makes souls righteous. The
red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls…..
These two rays issued forth from the
very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance
on the Cross.
These rays shield souls from the wrath
of My Father. Happy is the one who
will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of
him (Diary299).
The image of Jesus depicted here was
painted by Eugene Kazimirowski in Vilnius (presently, Lithuania) in 1934
under the direction of St. Faustina Kowalska.
It was venerated publicly for the first time on April 26, 1935, during
the closing celebration of the Jubilee of redemption at the Shrine of Our
Lady of the Dawn Gate.
In 1937 the image was placed in St.
Michael’s Church, and it remained there until 1948 when the church was closed
by the Communist government. A journey
of hiding then took place until 1956, when it was enshrined in the Church in
Nova Ruda (Belarus). There it remained
until 1986 in spite of the fact that the church was closed in 1970 and
provided a very poor physical environment for the painting. In 1986 the image was secretly removed
again and brought to the Holy Spirit Church in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1991, on account of damages sustained,
the painting was retouched by a local artist, but the face lost its original
appearance in the process. Under the
guidance of Cardinal Backis the image was professionally restored in May,
2003, and for the time being it will continue to be venerated in Holy Spirit
Church, Vilnius.
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DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE