This film has been inspired by "Diary" of
St. Faustyna Kowalska (1905-1938)
Presented persons, places and events do not stricly resemble historical facts.
the Great Cosmic Power of Compassion
and Divine Grace -TARA
I, Sister Feliksa
Eternal Nun from Gathering of Sisters of Divine Mother of Compassion,
Want here today, in front of You, Jesus
To make a General Confession
You know...
That through pride, jealousy and fear of tuberculosis
I had hurt Sister Faustyna
Wounds I inflicted on Sister Faustyna
They are within me!
How many were there?
Plenty.
The whole daily existence.
For over 50 next years of my life in the Order
I wanted to forget about her.
And not to understand...
I didn't want to understand
That being with Sister Faustyna was for me a...
Grace.
Sister Faustyna was the eternal wanderer of our Gathering
She travelled from House to House
For the first time, I saw Sister Faustyna
When she came to our House.
I watched her then with curiosity
Not suspecting even, how much she will change my life
- May God grant You Fortune, Sister Faustyna!
- May He grant it to You.
- May God grant You.
- May God grant You!
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Good that Sister finally arrived.
May He be Praised.
Greetings, Mother General
How was the trip?
Fine, thank You.
I will go to greet Lord Jesus.
Yes, now we will go to refectary to eat something,
And then Sister will unpack.
"...All of the prosecutors of sinful woman left one after another,
And only Jesus stayed with her in midst of the crowd
He spoke to her: "Woman, where are those who prosecuted You?"
"None of them condemned You?"
She replied: "None, my Lord."
And Jesus said: "Then neither I will condemn You.
Go and do not sin anymore."
Here! Pass it here!
How did the journey end, Mother?
Will we be able to keep the House in Kiekrz?
Mother Malgorzata, I will not give away Kiekrz.
Mother Ksawera's efforts will not go to waste.
Oh yes, I know. She does real miracles over there.
House is without electricity, without pluming.
And pupils...
...difficult.
Sent through a court order.
But Mother! There is a great spirit there.
And I calculated everything during the trip
We have 9 Houses.
And I'm not counting the Branches!
1021 pupils and 304 Sisters.
And I'm not mentioning the newly opened Houses,
like one in Kalisz - 60 pupils.
Mother Pelagia says, that she has one more year
of repaying the bank credit
She will manage!
Sisters bought more land in Biala
And next month, I will go to Rabka.
And Derdy - finally ours!
The repairs are finished!
There is also an opportunity in Lvov...
Well, there will be a lot of money needed.
And a loan from the bank...
Sister Faustyna was assigned to help in the bakery...
And I was then a head teacher of a class.
Sister Feliksa is a big hope of our House.
Noble-born, educated, and most of all - spiritually formed.
Isn't that so, Mother?
I will help You, Sister!
She still has years of trials ahead of her.
Marysia! Marysia - back in the line. Line!
Sister Faustyna is a happy child of God.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
For All Eternity.
May God grant You.
How are we, Mrs. Smith?
Everyone healthy?
Healthy.
A bun for Pawelek.
Thank You.
Thank You!
Bread? Streight from the oven. Here You go.
Two breads, please.
My days are all so much...the same.
I feel the same pain in my legs...
I...got to the chapel to rest.
Not to rejoice in prayer.
I know that Sister...
Can pray during the labor.
I am not able.
God is always watching over us
And finds a solution there,
where human mind no longer can
If a human knows that God is Kind, Compassionate,
That He will embrace him and forgive him,
Then he will come to God.
But if he thinks that He is only Just,
Then he will be affraid.
And he will not come.
And will perish.
There are guests coming in the morning -
we need to bake cakes!
Sister Faustyna!
Mother agreed that Sister could help with the cakes.
- Sister Marcelina, will Sister manage here with cleaning up?
- Yes
- Let's go!
Thank You, Sister!
My Lord,
Help me, so that my eyes become compassionate,
So I could only look for what is beautiful in souls of men
Help me...
Help me, so that my arms and legs become compassionate
Help me, so that my Heart becomes compassionate.
Jesus! Transform me into Yourself,
You have the power to do so.
Sister!
Sister!
Please pray for me! Please!
Sister! For me and not for me.
"Without separate permission, Sisters will not get up
neither sooner nor later then at the designated hour"
Sister is breaking the Rule.
Sister Wiktoryna came to me,
She asked for a prayer - she was suffering a lot.
I couldn't refuse her.
Sister Wiktoryna has been dead for a year.
She came from There.
Sister Faustyna!
Jesus, save me!
I only want for a priest to tell me, in Your name,
that I am on the good path
Or told me to reject all that.
I can't live like that any longer.
Deep within my Soul I feel that all that comes from You,
But above what I feel, I will value confessor's opinion.
If he tells me to - I will close my eyes,
I will stop to hear,
And I will say "No" to You, the one who are Jesus.
I saw Lord Jesus! In white robe!
One hand he was rising - as in a blessing,
And the second one was touching the robe, here on the chest.
And from the opening of the robe two large rays were emerging
One pale, the other one - red.
I looked at the Lord, I looked...
And I kept silent.
And he said: "Paint a picture, according to what You see,
With an inscription - "Jesus, I trust You"."
He said to me: "Paint a picture!"
O Life! Grey and monotonous,
What brightness exists in You!
No hour is the same as the other one
Therefore greyness and monotony
Disappear when I look at everything through eye of Faith
Grace, which is given to me in this hour,
Will not be repeated in the next one.
It will be given to me in the next one, but not the same.
Time passes and never comes back.
That which it holds within itself, will never change.
It seals with a seal for all eternity.
Fausty...Faustynko!
Hm?
Poor Faustynko,
They say that Sister has some visions...
That... Sister has fantasies.
Please, Sister defend Yourself from it.
I brought pictures - all with Lord Jesus.
Please, please take!
Does Sister know how to paint?
All that You told me,
Is beautiful.
But it regards Your Soul, You understand?
This painting You need to paint in Your Heart.
Father,
But I really saw Lord Jesus..
I... was given a task.
If this will comfort You,
Then know that two days ago,
another Sister saw Him as well.
But You paint Him. Paint Him in Your Soul.
Jesus, bestow these Gift on somebody else.
Because I don't know how to use them.
Please, don't charge me with things so huge.
I only waste them.
You know that.
His robe was white...
He was raising one hand - as in a blessing
What is that?
Blood and Water.
And here?
The Heart!
It's better for Sister to discuss this with her superiors
I already did, Father.
You need to try one more time.
Listen, Daughter.
There are many delusions, You understand.
I...I am no looking for it, Father.
It comes by itself.
I say to You - talk with Mothers.
What can I do? I don't know what is working on You.
I don't understand You, Sister.
Mother Beloved!
This painting has to be made!
Lord Jesus insists very much.
All the people need it.
And our Sisters too.
Please, Mother!
I say: No.
No painting.
No announcements.
No novelties in the Church.
The case of Sister Faustyna has not been made clear.
We only pretend that nothing is happening.
But Mother! What?
What is happening?
I am concerned.
Shouldn't we give this case under investigation
to some distinguished theologist.
But Mother... There is no need.
We will handle it ourselves.
Thankfully nothing got out the Gathering's walls.
What is the Mother's decision?
I'm transfering Sister Faustyna to the House in Vilnus.
I made one more decision
Sister will go to Vilnus, and take there charge of a class.
Why, Mother, such an exile?
There is a need for a young spirit,
Burning with Love.
You are to listen to Your Heart
And pray for Light.
You are young, you are good,
God didn't cheat You out of Your brain.
You just need to pray, look within,
Listen and hear.
Sister will go to Vilnus...
And will keep a close eye on everything.
I saw Sister Faustyna as the cause of my exile.
Thank You.
Good Sisters. But elderly people don't need to eat much.
I have, Lord, permission from my superiors and my confessor
For this day.
For this confession in front of You.
In Vilnus, Sister Faustyna found a good confessor,
Who listened to her and helped.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
For all eternity, Amen.
Mother General sends greetings to Mother Superior.
God repay her for that.
This will be Sister's prie-dieu.
Thank You, Dear Mother!
- May God grant You!
- May God grant You.
This will be Sister's cell.
God repay to Beloved Mother.
Mother Superior, Father Sopocko is waiting in the park.
It will be good for Sister here...
Faustyna.
I'm very glad that Father Professor found after all a moment for us.
Let's walk further away, into the garden.
This piece, Sister will have for strawberries.
They used to be here, but now...
Sister comes from the countryside?
Yes.
That's good.
I mean...I wanted to say it will go very well.
So, like I said - strawberries all the way until the wall.
Here vegetables, and there. And there, behind, tomatoes.
One has to walk a lot here, and bend down a lot.
And where did You come from? So alone in here?
Look, Brother, how it courageously grows up.
And what a swashbuckler!
A seed fell on the ground, sprouted,
And so it grows, towards Heaven,
Praising God.
You know Creator's Power, don't You little one?
Sister concluded from one bean seed, to the Heavenly Power?
And is it not so, Brother?
You came here and tell us that we're supposed to love God,
As the Compassionate One.
That above His Justice, is His Compassion...
I'm supposed to go and tell to priests,
That they are showing an imperfect image of God...
Me?!
And who am I?
All the Grace that Jesus grants me, comes through suffering,
I ask Him: "Why Lord? Why have You chosen me?
Such a lousy tool?"
Father, why don't I have the Mind of the sages?
Only the Heart?
Why only that I have?
Black is my poverty...
If my suffering can awake those,
Who are suffering lack of trust in Your Love,
Then Lord,
Receive my pain. Take it! And give me more.
In front of Heaven and Earth,
In front of all Angelic Choirs,
In front of Holiest Virgin Mary
And all the Heavenly Powers,
I declare to God, One in Trinity,
That today, in Communion with Jesus Christ,
I offer myself voluntarily for redemption of the sinners,
Especially for those, who lost faith in God's Compassion.
By this offering I mean to take upon myself
All the sufferings, fears and horrors, that sinners are filled with.
In return, I give to them all the joys I have in my Heart,
Which come from being in Communion with God.
We all were praying in the chapel
I felt suddenly, that I am present in her prayer.
She embraced our entire Gathering.
Later... I didn't ever think deeper about this new thought.
There was no time, Lord...
Please put the confessional beside the window.
Next to the window, please.
Here I will be recieving confessions of Sister Faustyna,
So not to disturb the others by lenght of the confession.
Very well.
...suddenly I saw Lord Jesus,
He was in a white robe,
One hand he was rising, as in a blessing
And the other one was touching the robe on the chest
And from the opening of this robe two rays were emerging -
one pale and one red.
I looked at the Lord, I looked. And I stood silent.
And He said to me:
"Paint a painting according to the vision You see"
With an insciption: "Jesus, I trust You"
He told me: "Paint a painting"
But I don't know how to paint...
Really, I need to resign from position of the confessor in Your Gathering.
Mother Superior know, that I am teaching at the Seminary,
I'm guessing that there is also another reason?
Well...Indeed, Mother.
Indeed it's about Sister Faustyna.
I spoke with her, and I admit -
I don't know what to do.
And what am I supposed to do, Father Professor?
We need...
Caution.
I need to be sure.
We need ALL of the medical examinations of Sister Faustyna...
There has to be done a special examination...
Psychiatric examination.
Mother understands.
Sister Maria Faustyna Kowalska.
Where does Sister come from?
From Glogowiec, in Swinice Parish.
It's about 50 kilometers from Lodz.
Education?
3rd grade of public school.
How long has Sister been in the Order?
Eight and a half years.
What were the motives for joining?
When I was seven, for the first time I heard Voice of God.
In the Soul.
For long time I was resisting, because I didn't have
my parents permission.
But eventually, I followed that voice.
Please say more about this.
It... is a secret of my Soul.
Does Sister practice fasting?
No.
Sometimes I ask for permission, to recieve smaller portions.
Or to have only bread.
Does Sister try to stay awake for few nights in a row?
No.
I try to rest well.
I have a lot of work, I need to have strenght.
Does Sister look for seclusion?
No.
Not with my duties.
I try to cultivate... an inner silence.
Does Sister feel guilty?
No...
Does Sister feel threatened - by the Judgment Day for example?
No!
My God... No...
Does Sister want her own death, to liberate humanity from sin?
No!
No!
Based on the conducted interview, conclusion is as follows:
Personality structure - solid.
Examined nun answers gramatically, constructivelly and logically.
There no signs of mental illness.
I watched her.
But I saw only what I wanted to see -
A Sister assigned to physical labor, with rich imagination.
Once she was walking down the hall,
So radiant...
And I hissed loudly:
"Look! A princess!"
And she said...
That she just recieved Body of Christ
And royal blood is flowing through her veins.
Mother of God!
Holiest Mary!
In a special way You are now my mother,
Because Your Beloved Son is my Lover.
Therefore You have to love me.
I found out, in short time, that my offering is pleasing to God,
My Soul became full of anxiety and torments
In Heart I have uncertainity
And despair.
This is the state of poor souls which I have taken upon myself.
I fear delusion.
I fear...hallucunations, phantoms.
I will wait.
I must and I will disbelieve.
I will pray,
Think, study
I will seek counsel of wise priests,
But I will wait.
Sister Faustyna,
I've found a painter.
He will paint Lord Jesus,
Like Sister is seeing.
- Praised be Jesus Christ!
- For all eternity, Amen.
Sister,
Was Lord Jesus then...walking?
Or standing?
Please, describe.
Lord came...
In the night.
His robe was white.
One hand he was rising, for a blessing,
And with the other one he was touching the robe,
here, on the chest.
And from the opening of this robe two rays were coming
Pale one and red one.
I looked at the Lord, I looked...
And I stood silent.
I was affraid.
And I had Joy in the Soul.
Lead me, oh God, on whatever paths You please,
I gave my total trust to Your Will,
Which for me is Love and Compassion itself.
Mother!
Here, to me Sisters!
To my cell!
Sister, run quickly and get a doctor!
- There is no danger to her life.
- Thank God!
It's a sun stroke.
She's already conscious.
- She asked for a priest with holy oilments.
- Yes
- May God repay You!
- Goodbye.
Suddenly Jesus stood in front of me,
Disrobed,
Whole body covered with wounds
Eyes...
Eyes filled with blood
And tears.
Face...
Completely ruined.
And Jesus told me:
"A Lover should be like her Beloved"
I understood these words.
I want to be similar to You, Jesus!
To You crucified,
Humiliated,
Tortured,
Devastated.
She fell asleep.
Father Professor,
I don't know what's going to happen next.
She needs some kind of help.
Mother, if this an Act of God,
then we mean nothing in this case.
Is this the way we should think?
I don't know, Mother.
I honestly don't know...
I pray for Light, I read, I meditate.
What more can I do?
Nothing, Mother.
I know nothing.
Everything says it is...
God's Doing.
- A Holiday?
- Yes.
Lord Jesus was reminding about it?
It is to be celebrated on first Sunday after Easter.
The Day of Compassion.
Why a new Holiday?
Lord Jesus said, that despite His bitter sacrifice,
Many souls are still getting lost.
That's why, He wishes for this holiday to be a refuge
And a sanctuary For everyone,
Especially for the sinners.
Sister! These confessions are getting longer and longer.
Therefore during confession, please limit Yourself to reporting sins and omissions.
And the rest write in the notebook.
Write?
I can read it, lets say, once a week.
Oh God,
I'm supposed to write about the meetings of my soul with Yours?
I'm supposed to write about You - Uncomprehensible in Your Compassion?
Oh God,
Is it possible to write down with a pen that,
Which many times is underscribable?
But You tell me to write,
And that is enough for me.
"Jesus, I trust You"
Who can paint You, Lord, as Beautiful as You really are?
Mother,
Is it good to take an example from Sister Faustyna?
Mother General wrote me to seek the best of role models.
Better to take example from Mother of God!
New painting... New Holiday...
Father Professor...
Maybe it's even correct, but isn't that a wrong address?
Vilenian Metropolis should not go over Warsavian's head.
Then maybe in accordance with Warsaw, Your Excellency
will address the Holy See?
You're boiled in hot water, Father.
Who says anything about addressing?
Careful! Haste can only spoil things.
Acts of God are commencing slowly.
I'm thinking... Maybe it will somehow resolve by itself, don't You think?
Hm, yes...
Yes...
Because greatness of Church lies in its prudence.
I cannot be destroying it - it is the foundation.
I also used to be frustrated by Church's slowness,
thought nothing can be done here.
But look,
Because it is so unchangable,
It lasts!
And be attentive - EVEN THOUGH it is so unchangable,
It lasts.
You understand that?
That means we still have time.
Father hasn't seen into the Eternity yet.
I am almost already there.
The painting technically is, I think, good.
But she didn't like it.
But it beautifully speaks about God's Compassion.
It says, it the greatest of God's Attributes.
I didn't believe.
I kept thinking - where does she get it from?
It is not bringing anything new,
But it does enrich this mystery of our Faith.
And look here:
Saint Thomas,
Saint Fulgentius,
Saint Ildefons,
Oh, and here's the most - Saint Augustin comments the Psalms.
Old Fathers of the Church speak about Divine Compassion
Calling it "The Greatest of God's Attributes".
You understand?
She didn't read any of these!
It was Given to her.
But still, she did not like the painting.
She even cried.
Because the power is not in the canvas.
Behold, the King of Compassion!
After the celebration in Ostra Brama,
The painting was hidden away in a dark corridor
In the cloister of Bernardine Sisters.
After two years,
Vilenian Metropolita agreed to bless the painting
And to put it in Church of Saint Michael's,
With a condition that it can not be hanged in the altar,
Nor speak of its origin.
I understood a great truth -
God will not refuse me anything,
When I beg Him with His Son's voice.
My offering is nothing.
But when I join it with offering of Jesus,
It becomes omnipotent.
God loves us through His Son.
I beg Him,
Through bleeding hands of Jesus
Through His...
Legs covered with blood.
Through tortured head.
I feel that...
That I will lift the veil of Heaven,
So that Earth will know about Kindness of Jesus.
Sister, train Yourself in humbleness!
Please!
God... demands a new Gathering...
For...
Praying for Compassion.
For preaching it...
Should I leave?
Leave this Gathering?
To be there?
That's impossible.
Impossible!
Sister!
Sister!
Sister...
Mother Borgia!
Thank You...
Breathe.
Caugh.
If You choose to take me in my years of youth - may You be blessed.
If You will choose to make me live until old age - may You be blessed.
If You choose to give me health and strenght - may You be blessed.
If You choose to make me bedridden with pain for whole life -
May You be blessed...
It's tuberculosis.
We have to treat.
But is it possible to treat?
We have to try.
But it's already late...
I don't know if God forgave me that act from
many years ago...
I keep confessing it,
Priests tell me to have calm.
But I... can't find it.
Jesus, thank You for tests on my path.
For poor health and exhaustion.
For temptations and various experiences.
For horrors, fears and uncertainities.
For the hour of my death.
For difficulties in fighting during it.
And for all its bitterness.
"Let's pray for Compassion!"
Lord Jesus said.
When did He say that?
Just now.
A moment ago.
If I could, at least once, understand all this.
But no.
It is given to me, to feel next to Sister
like a child.
I call for common sense, I ask for peace.
But everything keeps melting away.
The garden is crying,
Mother.
It's raining.
Great Love can transform small things
into great ones.
And only Love gives to our actions value.
The more pure our Love becomes,
The less the fire of suffering will have to burn inside of us.
And suffering will cease to be a suffering for us.
You have the gift of understanding Higher Truths.
I cannot.
Submerge in God's Kindness.
He's hurt by Your disbelief.
I asked the Mother to take Sister Faustyna
out from Vilnus.
Because I humiliated myself in front of her.
I saw her ascending upwards
While I was crawling, like a worm.
Sister Faustyna came back to our House.
But soon after, so did I.
May God grant You, Faustynko!
May God repay You.
Mother Superior sends me to help.
A lot of work.
But we will make it...
For Lord Jesus.
Not healthy like that, to be in the cellar.
Maybe we could...
Go out a bit, get some sun.
Very well...
We'll have a race.
To Divine Mother.
One...
Two...
Three!
What happened?
Next time You will win.
Let's go back to work. We promised.
I begin the day with a struggle.
And I finish it with a struggle.
Once I'm done with one obstacle,
Ten more rise in its place.
But I am not worried by that.
I throw myself into the arms of Heavenly Father.
And I trust that will not perish.
When Sister Faustyna was lying in the hospital,
She asked for permission to come back to the House.
She felt the death coming.
"I want to die in the cloister,
Amongst my own" she said.
Jesus!
Take me with You at last.
I feel that my Heart will burst out of longing for You.
I feel like on an exile.
When will I finally arrive, at the House of Our Father?
Don't ever walk by a sick Sister with indifference.
Don't walk by without asking if she needs anything.
Even if it would be just a small thing.
Don't walk by...
Betrothed to Jesus.
I didn't make it in time, Lord...
I didn't make it.
And my Heart closed for many years.
For 50 years, I lived as I lived.
I kept running.
I asked to be at the cloister wicket,
Because one day You came here
In a torn coat, with bruised face.
You came to Sister Faustyna and You asked for food.
And she recognized You.
I wait at the same gate.
But You don't come to me.
Although You are everywhere.
I will not forget about You, poor Earth.
Although I feel that I'm about to merge fully with God.
But it will not stop me from coming back to Earth.
And to encourage souls
To trust in God's Compassion.
On first Sunday after Easter, April 18th, 1993,
On Saint Peter's Plaza in Rome,
Pope John Paul II placed Sister Maria Faustyna Kowalska,
The Apostole of God's Compassion
Onto the Altars of Glory.
On April 30th, 2000, Pope John Paul II declared her a Saint and
installed the Holiday of Divine Compassion.
In 1944, Polish painter - Adolf Hyla, made another version of the painting,
Which became known all around the world.