Saint Faustina Kowalska

October 5th is the Feast of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. She was born in 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland to a devout peasant family, and possessed a great faith in Jesus from the age of 7. In 1925 St. Faustina had a vision of the Suffering Christ, after which she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, in Krakow. Jesus chose St. Faustina to help Him spread the message of His trust and mercy. He appeared to her in 1937 as the King of Divine Mercy, and she worked with an artist to have this image painted. Faustina’s confessor had her record her experiences with Jesus, creating the renowned publication: Divine Mercy in My Soul, The Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.

St. Faustina was blessed with many graces including visions of heaven, hell and purgatory, and was able to bi-locate and to read souls. She had an extraordinary union with Jesus and as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners, this courageous Saint accepted immense physical agony during her final years of consumption tuberculosis which took her life at the age of 33 in 1938. 

Saint Francis of Assisi

Born in Assisi, Italy, to a wealthy silk merchant in 1181, Saint Francis’ family was educated and respected by the people of his town. For twenty-five years he occupied himself with worldly ambitions. In 1206, inspired by scripture from the Gospel of Matthew, Francis abandoned his affluent life for a life of poverty. Upon hearing Christ ask him to repair His Church, while praying at the deserted Church of San Damiano, he proceeded to rebuild that Church with his own hands. Later he came to understand that he was to rebuild the Church as an institution, which was rife with scandal and avarice.

In 1210, Pope Innocent III permitted Francis and his companions to go forth and preach the Gospel. In a world of coldness and disenchantment, Francis’ example of poverty and devotion to Christ attracted followers numbering over 5000 by 1219. Saint Francis founded The Franciscan order of the Friars Minor, The Poor Clares and The Third Order of Franciscans. In 1226, on missionary journey to the Holy Land, while suffering from stigmata and blindness caused by disease of the eyes, St. Francis died of exhaustion. His Feast Day is October 4th and Pope Leo XIV announced 2026 is the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi. This year marks the 800th Anniversary of his death.