Our Lord said to St Faustina: ‘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 (…) 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 throughout the world’.

On 30 April 2000, Pope (now Saint) John Paul II canonised St Faustina, the ‘Apostle of Divine Mercy. In doing so, he also gave his unequivocal support to the Divine Mercy message and to the Second Sunday of Easter as ‘Divine Mercy Sunday’. He said, “By this act of canonization of Saint Faustina I intend today to pass this message on to the third millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their neighbour. In fact, love of God and love of one’s neighbour are inseparable’.

He also said: ‘Right from the beginning of my ministry in St. Peter’s See in Rome, I considered this message my special task. Providence has assigned it to me in the present situation of man, the Church, and the world. It could be said that precisely this situation assigned that message to me as my task before God”.

May you know the blessings of this very special day in your heart and in your life. ‘Jesus, I trust in You!’