The Pope celebrates the apparition of Divine Mercy

The apparition of Divine Mercy: on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the apparition of Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowalska. Pope Francis wrote a letter to Catholics in Poland expressing his hope that the message of Christ's divine mercy would remain "alive in the hearts of the faithful".

According to a statement released by the Polish bishops' conference on February 22, the anniversary of the apparition, the pope said he was united in prayer with those who commemorate the anniversary at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakow and encouraged them to ask Jesus for "the gift of mercy. "We have the courage to go back to Jesus to meet his love and mercy in the sacraments," he said. “We feel his closeness and tenderness, and then we will also be more capable of mercy, patience, forgiveness and love”.

Prayer to the Divine Mercy of Saint Faustina

Saint Faustina and the apparition to Divine Mercy

In her diary, Saint Faustina wrote that she witnessed a vision of Jesus on February 22, 1931. While living in a convent in Plock, Poland. Christ, he wrote, had one hand raised as a sign of blessing and the other resting on his chest, from which two rays of light emanated. He said that Christ asked that this image be painted - along with the words "Jesus, I trust in you" - and that it be venerated.

His cause of holiness was opened in 1965 by the then Archbishop of Krakow Karol Wojtyla. After her election to the papacy - he would go on to beatify her in 1993 and preside over her canonization in 2000.

Recalling the devotion of Saint John Paul II to Saint Faustina Kowalska and the message of Christ's divine mercy, the pope said that his predecessor was "the apostle of mercy" who "wanted the message of God's merciful love to reach all the inhabitants of the earth ”.

Pope Francis also celebrated the anniversary of the apparition during his Sunday Angelus address on February 21. "Through St. John Paul II, this message reached the whole world, and it is none other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who died and rose, and who gives us the mercy of his father," said the pope. “Let's open our hearts, saying with faith, 'Jesus, I trust in you,'” he said