Maria Faustyna Kowalska, OLM, also known as Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, was a Polish Catholic religious sister and mystic. Faustyna, popularly spelled "Faustina", had apparitions of Jesus Christ which inspired the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of "Secretary of Divine Mercy".
The registered birth certificate of Helena Kowalska
The small convent building where Kowalska lived in Vilnius
Chapel of Saint Faustina Kowalska at her resting place, the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Kraków, Łagiewniki
The original image of the Divine Mercy, painted under the guidance of Faustina Kowalska
Visions of Jesus and Mary
A number of people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding his mother, Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited controversy. The Catholic Church endorses a fraction of these claims, and various visionaries it accepts have achieved beatification, or even sainthood.
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio, 1601–02
Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church by Tiepolo, c. 1746
Mary of the Divine Heart
Saint Francis embracing Christ on the Cross, by Murillo, 1668.
