The Catholic Church declared Sr Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) to be a saint. She bears the distinction of being the first saint canonised in the new millenium. She died in Cracow. It was through her that Jesus supposedly established the Devotion to Divine Mercy in a series of visions and revelations. These visions were delusions and there is an abundance of evidence that this was so in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. She did not bother correcting and rereading her revelations not caring if she accidentally taught heresy or got the devotion discredited (xix, xx). Her book, which she intended for the world to see after she was dead, contains immodest boasts like that she would die a thousand deaths to avoid committing the slightest sin (page 152). To choose that is as bad as choosing a thousand suicides.
She contradicted Jesus’ promise that nobody would know when he would return in the second coming so that Christians would be always ready for she reported Jesus as saying that before the day of judgment there would be the day of mercy in which he would make a cross appear before the world in the sky so that all people would hear a call to mercy (page 42). That means that sinners have no last day to worry about until that cross appears. She must have seen and heard things that she never wrote down when she admitted she was afraid of Jesus once and thought he was the Devil (page 109). Obviously, by Catholic standards, this woman cannot be a saint.
She supervised a painting of Jesus as he was in her visions. Interestingly he does not look enough like the Turin Shroud which is thought by many to be the burial cloth of Christ so that is a good thing. The Garabandal visionaries said Mary looked like the man on the Shroud but interestingly the Medjugorje virgin who was depicted in a famous lifelike statue that is in St James’ Church looks nothing like the Shroud though this statue resembles her according to the visionaries who guided the artists. It is one big failure in Roman Catholicism that it never does photofits to make sure that different visionaries are meeting the same Mary or Jesus. The Church does not feel the need holding that Jesus and Mary like to alter their appearances. Why would they? Would they be that vain and childish?
The Vatican condemned the Devotion to Divine Mercy as it was put forward by Faustina. The Church reexamined the issue and the apparitions and revelations were approved by Pope John Paul II who wished to promote the devotion probably because it had arisen in his native Poland.
Catholics who follow the devotion pray as Faustina’s vision of Jesus directed, “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you.” Jesus supposedly told the Church to pray this prayer at 3 pm daily. The Church might “explain” that it means, “O Jesus whose heart gushed forth mercy for us when it bled water and blood, I trust in you.” But then why doesn’t the prayer say that? The words are actually a block to meaning that. They make it difficult to mean that. Most people will find themselves praying to the actual blood and water. The Bible severely warns that people have a predisposition to idolatrous worship. Thus the prayer is dangerous.
The prayer of consecration to Divine Mercy runs, “Jesus, the Divine Mercy, I consecrate my entire life, from this day on, to You without reserve.” This is hypocrisy. Even the greatest saints complained how they were unable to reach Jesus’ uncompromising ideals. If the prayer really came from God as devotees of Divine Mercy allege, it would run, “Jesus, the Divine Mercy, I want the strength to consecrate my entire life, from this day on, to You without reserve.”
Jesus promised that devotees of Divine Mercy who spread the prayers would never go to Hell and he would “particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death.” Protestant theologians might see this as an attempt to lull devotees into a false sense of security so that they will be drawn down to Hell forever.
