One thing I remember most in my Novus Ordo days was April 30, 2000, when John Paul II canonized Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska. He didn't just do that but he also established what is now known as Divine Mercy Sunday, which takes place on the Sunday after Easter. At that time, before social media was a part of everybody's daily life, news of the event was still able to spread throughout the world.
EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) or as I like to call it, Eternal Wishful Thinking Network started playing the Divine Mercy chaplet every day at 3 PM. Parishes adopted the same practice and erected images of the Divine Mercy in just about every church you entered. Sr. Faustina's Diary was recommended at "Catholic" book stores and by clergy universally. Divine Mercy Sunday, which replaced Low Sunday, seemed as if it was as popular as Easter in many places where its diehard devotees dwelt.
For a short while, I was devoted to saying the chaplet, passing out images, and promoting the message of mercy from the Diary, even though I hadn't read it yet. It was highly recommended by my confessor at the time, along with some nuns whom I knew, and so I figured it was a safe devotion just as any devotion approved by the Church. "Pope" John Paul II fully endorsed Divine Mercy.
As pious and harmless as it may seem, there are numerous problems with the Divine Mercy devotions; from its overall message to the Diary itself.
Background Info.
Maria Faustina Kowalska was born in Glogowiec, Poland on 8-25-1905, the third of ten children of a poor family whose father was a carpenter by trade and a mother who was very pious. She later stated in her Diary that she first felt a calling to the religious life while she attended the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at the age of 7. She wanted to enter the convent after she had completed her time at school, but her parents would not give her permission. When she was 16, she went to work as a housekeeper to support herself and to help her parents.
When she was 18, she went with her sister to a dance in a park in Lodz. At the dance, she had a vision of a suffering Jesus, who she believed asked her: 'How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?" From there she immediately went to the Cathedral in Lodz, where, as she later said, Jesus instructed her to depart for Warsaw immediately and to enter a convent. Without asking her parents' permission, and despite not knowing anybody in Warsaw, she took a train to go to Warsaw, which was about 85 miles away. When she arrived at her destination, she entered the first church that she saw which was named Saint James, and attended Mass. She asked the priest, Father DÄ…browski, for suggestions, and he recommended staying with Mrs. Lipszycowa, a local woman, until she found a convent.
Being rejected by several convents it was not until 1925 that the mother superior of the Sisters of Mercy accepted her after she had worked as a housemaid to save up some money to enter. On April 30, 1926 (ironically the same day she was canonized by JPII 74 years later) she took the religious name of Sister Maria Faustina (coming from the masculine form of the Roman Martyr Faustinus) of the Blessed Sacrament. By 1928, she completed the novitiate and took her first vows.
In 1930 she would end up in Plock, Poland. After recovering from a severe illness, it wasn't until 1931 when she started having more visions of Jesus. On the night of February 22 of that year, she claims Jesus appeared to her in her cell dressed in white garments with rays of red and white pouring forth from His chest, and that He said to her, "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You" (in Polish: "Jezu, ufam Tobie"). I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish." (Diary #47-48).
The only problem was Sr. Faustina did not know how to paint so she approached some other nuns of her Order to help. Her confessor hired an artist and in 1934 the first painting of the image was produced as seen here: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image
After taking her final vows in 1933, she was transferred to the convent of Vilnius (what is now Lithuania) with 18 other sisters, and worked as a gardener. It was here where she for the first time met Fr. Michael Sopocko whom she confessed to and claimed she had been conversing with Jesus. Fr. Sopocko insisted on that she complete a full psychiatric evaluation conducted by Helena Maciejewska, who was the psychiatrist and physician associated with the convent. This took place in 1933 and she passed the required tests declaring her sound of mind. As a result of this, Fr. Sopocko began to trust her visions and supported her efforts.
In his memoirs, Fr. Sopocko shared a recollection: "During the Holy Week of 1935 Sr. Faustina said to me that the Lord Jesus demanded that I place the picture in the Gate of Dawn for three days where the triduum at the end of the jubilee of Redemption was to be held...The triduum, he continued, was planned on the same days as the coveted feast of Mercy. Soon I learnt that the said triduum was going to be held indeed and the parish priest of the Gate of Dawn asked me to say the sermon. I agreed, on condition that the picture would be placed as a decoration in the window of the cloister where the picture looked impressive and attracted more attention than the picture of Our Lady." (The Gate of Dawn, was a chapel dedicated to Mary, Mother of Mercy, 400 years earlier.)
In her diary, Sr. Faustina wrote: "On Friday, when I was at the Gate of Dawn to attend the ceremony during which the image was displayed, I heard a sermon given by my confessor Father Sopocko. This sermon about Divine Mercy was the first of the things that Jesus had asked for so very long ago. When he began to speak about the great mercy of the Lord, the image came alive, and the rays pierced the hearts of the people gathered there. Great joy filled my soul to see the grace of God."
After the image was painted under her direction in 1935, Sr. Faustina claimed to have received a vision of an angel sent by God to chastise a certain city. She began to pray for mercy, but her prayers were powerless. Suddenly she saw the Holy Trinity and felt the power of Jesus’ grace within her as she claims. At the same time she found herself pleading with God for mercy with "words she heard interiorly."
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us. (Diary, Notebook 1 Entry 475).
As she continued saying this prayer, the angel supposedly became helpless and could not carry out the deserved punishment (entry 474). The next day, as she was entering the chapel, she again heard this interior voice, instructing her how to recite the prayer that our Lord later called "the Chaplet." This time, after "have mercy on us" were added the words "and on the whole world" (entry 476). From then on, she recited this form of prayer almost constantly, offering it especially for the dying.
In subsequent revelations, the Lord made it clear that the Chaplet was not just for her, but for the whole world. He also attached extraordinary promises to its recitation.
Prayed on ordinary rosary beads, The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is an intercessory prayer that extends the offering of the Eucharist, so it is especially appropriate to use it after having received Holy Communion at Holy Mass. It may be said at any time, but our Lord specifically told Sr. Faustina to recite it during the nine days before the Feast of Mercy (the first Sunday after Easter). He then added: "By this Novena, [of Chaplets] I will grant every possible grace to souls." (Notebook 2 Entry 796).
It is claimed to be likewise appropriate to pray the Chaplet during the "Hour of Great Mercy" at three o'clock each afternoon (recalling the time of Christ’s death on the cross). In His revelations to Sr. Faustina, Our Lord asked for a special remembrance of His Passion at that hour. The purpose of reciting the prayer of mercy (as she writes) was threefold: to obtain mercy, to trust in Christ's mercy, and to show mercy to others.
By 1936, Sr. Faustina had to return to Poland. In the meantime her confessor, Fr. Sopocko, wrote the first brochure on the Divine Mercy devotion, and Bp. Jalbrzykowski provided his imprimatur (Latin: Let it be printed) for it. The brochure carried the Divine Mercy image on the cover. Fr. Sopocko sent copies of the brochure to Kowalska in Warsaw. At first, she went to Walendow, south-east of Warsaw. After she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, she was sent to the sanatorium in Pradnik, Krakow.
In July 1937, the first holy cards with the Divine Mercy image were printed. In August, Sopocko asked Kowalska to write the instructions for the Novena of Divine Mercy, which she had reported as a message from Jesus on Good Friday of that year.
Finally, in 1938, her health deteriorated due to her aggressive disease, and Fr. Sopocko saw her for the last time in September of that year. She died 10/5/1938.
The Main Problems
Many proponents who argue in favor of the image and its devotions will point to where Pope Pius XII blessed the image in 1956. However, in the same year, after his blessing, the Diary of Sr. Faustina was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. This fact is written off by its promoters, claiming the Pope was given faulty translations and that later it was dismissed. The real reason wasn't due to faulty translations, but because of the revelations themselves, and other circumstances of the so-called apparitions Sr. Faustina claimed to have had. Things alarming enough for the pope to have a second look at it based on what Our Lord supposedly told Sr. Faustina to make public. Any writings placed on the Index means the content poses as a danger to souls by potentially leading the faithful astray. Therefore, it was a serious matter.
Shortly after the death of Pope Pius XII, it was under John XXIII (when the Supreme sacred Congregation of the Holy Office still existed) that two prohibitions were placed on her writings. The first condemnation was in a plenary meeting held on November 19, 1958. The declaration from the Holy Office issued these three statements about this devotion:
1. There is no evidence of the supernatural origin of these revelations. This would mean that the members of the Holy Office (the same clergy under Pius XII from the previous month of his death) examined the content and decided that there was nothing to indicate the apparitions were supernatural.
2. No feast of Divine Mercy should be instituted. The Church cannot institute a feast based on something that's not without doubt coming from God and if it be false that would mean the Church would err, which is impossible.
3. It is forbidden to disseminate writings propagating this devotion under the form received by Sr. Faustina, as well as the image typical of it. In other words, no image, no book, no chaplet (prayers). It's all forbidden
On March 6, 1959, the Holy Office issued a second decree which stated that it was up to the bishops to decide how they were going to remove the images that had already been displayed for public honor.
What in the Diary could lead souls astray?
Let us start examining some passages in the Diary:
Red Flag #1
In her diary the following is stated by Jesus "I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet." (Notebook 2 Entry #699; Emphasis added).
It's true that when a Catholic goes to confession, he/she can be morally certain that he/she is in the state of grace and is forgiven. However, the Church teaches that in order to avoid the punishment due to sin (Purgatory) a Catholic must do penance, receive the sacraments, and pray, which are the conditions for receiving plenary indulgences if the Church grants them. Punishment due to sin doesn't just go away once you've gone to confession and I would highly doubt that Our Lord would intend for Catholics to believe something contrary to what His Church teaches.
Red Flag #2
On February 4, 1935, Our Lord supposedly tells her “From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” (Notebook 1 Entry 374; Emphasis added).
When someone dies, they go to the particular Judgement. This is dogma. At Fatima, the Blessed Mother told Jacinta and Francisco they would go to Heaven, but not that they would be exempt from Judgement. The statement attributed to Our Lord is also very problematic because there would be no point for Faustina to stay on earth if she is already worthy of Heaven.
Red Flag #3
On October 2, 1936, she states that the “Lord Jesus” appeared to her and said, “Now, I know that it is not for the graces or gifts that you love Me, but because My Will is dearer to you than life. That is why I am uniting Myself with you so intimately as with no other creature.” (Notebook 2 Entry 707; Emphasis added).
Are we to believe that Our Lord unites Himself more intimately with Sr. Faustina than with the Blessed Virgin Mary? Or how about St. Joseph or St. John the Baptist or even some of the highest angels? This statement is no doubt at least erroneous.
Red Flag #4
May 23, 1937 she exclaims that Jesus says this in her diary "I see your love so pure; purer than that of the angels, and all the more so because you keep fighting. For your sake, I bless the world.” (Notebook 3 Entry 1061; Emphasis mine).
This is not only absurd but contrary to the purpose of needing mercy. Why should she ask for mercy before she dies if her love is already purer than the angels? Also if Our Lord, for her sake, was about to bless the world by pouring out His mercy, why did WWII happen shortly after these visions?
Red Flag #5
In her diary she claims “And the Host came out of the Tabernacle and came to rest in my hands and I, with joy, placed It back in the Tabernacle. This was repeated a second time, and I did the same thing. Despite this, it happened a third time.” (Notebook 1 entry #44)
This is by far the most bizarre statement. Why would a consecrated Host of Our Lord do this three times? For what purpose? Is is because Sr. Faustina is purer than the angels or Our Lord is united Himself more intimately with her than any other creature?
Quietism: A Forgotten Heresy
Quietism was a 17th century heresy espoused by Michael Molinos whose heresy denied the necessity of human activity in contemplation and sanctification. It asserted that the highest spirituality is attained when the mind and will are completely inactive (quiet); any sort of attachment to a divine image and all external forms of worship are hindrances to union with God (passive).
In other words, if one puts trust in mercy alone without the need to make reparation then it is unconditional mercy that person is inclined to believe in, leading that soul to the same error as Michael Molinos who was condemned for presuming God's Mercy by simply believing in being inactive. As Holy Sculpture states, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, with fear and trembling work out your salvation." Phil. 2:12 (Emphasis added). The image itself doesn't even show the Heart of Jesus which represents His real mercy towards those who intend on doing penance for their sins, as it is understood in the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion.
Below are a couple of examples taken from the Diary giving the notion that unconditional mercy is all based on total trust:
Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace. Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls. (Notebook 3 #1074; Emphasis added).
and
Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is – trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts. (Notebook 3 #1578; Emphasis added).
Adore His mercy? Should we also adore His justice?
Actual graces are what God gives to everyone including the most wretched of sinners regardless of their trust. It's true that we should trust in God and adore Him but we also must fear God in such a way as to avoid offending Him, and if we fall we are suppose to make reparation for the damage done. Confession also brings us into the state of sanctifying grace and we are taught that there are conditions on receiving such graces. That is contrition for sin and a firm resolution not to commit the sin again. This means we hope in His mercy by fulfilling the conditions. Merely trusting in His mercy alone without any action is what is being suggested in the above quotes. This can be understood as the same above mentioned heresy.
"The Deuce" gets his way
Had the Church not gone the way it did in the 60's and 70's, and things were as Catholic as they had always been, we probably wouldn't even know of the Divine Mercy today. It would be as remembered as the Mariavites or Mystic priests (also from Poland) who were condemned by St. Pius X in his 1906 encyclical Tribus Circiter for believing in a Sr. Maria Francesca.
Unfortunately, in 1965 Karol Woytyla, then bishop of Krakow, opened up an investigation into Sr. Faustina's life and virtues and was permitted by the Holy Office to once more look into what the witnesses had to say. Coincidentally enough, the Second Vatican (Robber) Council ended that year and the Holy Office was renamed the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine (Destruction) of the Faith, which by order of Paul VI, in the very next year on June 14th, 1966, abolished the Index of Forbidden Books. (If only Klaus Schwab could re-set things that fast by agenda 2030!). By 1978, Woytyla took the name John Paul II ("The Deuce" as a commenter frequently calls him), and was known as the "Great Mercy Pope."
According to https://www.thedivinemercy.org:
It was "St." "Pope" John Paul II who told the Marian Fathers: “Be apostles of Divine Mercy under the maternal and loving guidance of Mary.” We've been faithfully following his instructions ever since."
Both in his teaching and personal life, "St." "Pope" John Paul II strove to live and teach the message of Divine Mercy. As the great Mercy Pope, he wrote an encyclical on Divine Mercy:
"The Message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me… which I took with me to the See of Peter and which it in a sense forms the image of this Pontificate."
In his writings and homilies, he has described Divine Mercy as the answer to the world’s problems and the message of the third millennium...
In 2002, the "Pope" entrusted the whole world to Divine Mercy when he consecrated the International Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki, a suburb of Krakow in Poland. This is where "St." Faustina’s mortal remains are entombed. The saint lived in a convent nearby. The "Pope" himself remembers as a young man working in the Solvay Quarry, just a few meters from the present-day Shrine. He also says that he had been thinking about Sr. Faustina for a long time when he wrote his encyclical on Divine Mercy. Further, the "Holy Father" has frequently quoted from the Diary of "Saint" Maria Faustina Kowalska and has prayed The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy at the saint’s tomb. (Italics added).
Conclusion
The Divine Mercy was placed on the Index by a true pope and for good reasons, as explained above. It does nothing but replace long standing Catholic devotions such as the Sacred Heart and the Rosary. It fits perfectly with the Vatican II sect agenda: "Out with the old and in with the new." There is nothing wrong with progression so long it conforms with all Catholic truth, but there is something wrong with a new faith that is not Catholic.
The new Magisterium, new Mass, new sacraments, new catechisms, new code of canon law, new evangelization, new theology, new disciplinary laws, new saints, new devotions such as the Divine Mercy and Luminous Mysteries, and even the new acceptance of the LGBTQIA+, have led people down many wrong paths. The Catholic Church leads to salvation. The ape Sect of Vatican II leads to Hell. It's that simple.
Addendum--4/16/23
By Introibo
My apologies to Lee for adding an Addendum to his post, but some are claiming that this devotion may be legitimate because of the "faulty translation" of Faustina's Diary. In this Addendum, I will point out insurmountable obstacles with the CONTENT OF THE DEVOTION ITSELF.
Fatima is an unquestionably approved apparition, and while the Faith does not depend on private revelations, it comports perfectly with Church teaching. Let's compare the two; Fatima vs. Divine Mercy:
1. Fatima gives a very Catholic message that involves stopping sin, praying the Rosary daily, going to Mass on the First Five Saturdays, wearing the scapular, performing penance/acts of reparation, etc.
Faustina's Divine Mercy writings promise mercy for those who believe ('trust'), rather for than those who repent and act rightly. It pervades all her writings and cannot be some alleged "mistranslation." The entire "trust in Jesus" and be cleansed from sin by His Mercy without contrition and penance is very Protestant and pleasing to Vatican II sect ecumenists. Relying on Mercy does nothing to inculcate virtue as does the practices urged at Fatima.
2. Fatima promotes the Most Holy Rosary.
Divine Mercy obliterates the Rosary, by using the Rosary beads for a faux chaplet of Mercy. On the ten beads of each decade where the Hail Mary would be said, it is replaced with "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world"--a prayer that a Protestant could recite. It also deprives us of imploring the Blessed Mother to pray for us "now and at the hour of our death" at least 50 times. Heaven gave us the Rosary, but Wojtyla who gave us the "Illuminati Mysteries" would do away with it completely an replace it with an ecumenical plea for Mercy apart from penance. At Fatima, Mary added at the end of each decade of the Rosary, "O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls to Heaven especially those most in need of Thy Mercy."
There is no mention of Hell in the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The closest it comes is "Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equaled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone." Yes, God will deny His mercy to those who refuse to repent and do penance!! More, "saved by trust in Jesus" Protestant heresy.
3. Fatima promotes the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a perfect complement to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Divine Mercy never mentions the Immaculate Heart, downplays Mary's role in our salvation, and obliterates the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Faustina puts forth an image which can be used by Protestants--a "Heartless" Christ with rays coming from His robes and no Heart pierced by thorns.
As a result, Divine Mercy can lead to: the sin of presumption, failing to do penance and make acts of reparation for sin, and the neglect of approved devotions like the Rosary and the Most Sacred Heart.
Don't let anyone fool you into thinking these grave errors are the result of some "mistranslation." Divine Mercy is a false devotion given by Hell to a false saint and promoted by a false "pope-saint," John Paul the Great Apostate. Be warned.