Saint Faustina with the "Jesus I trust in You" image
St. Faustina – the best known Polish saint venerated by the Roman Catholics all over the world – has finally received her own pilgrimage route in Krakow – the place where she lived and died in 1938.
Robert Kusek reports
St. Faustina was a Polish nun, visionary and mystic, a member at the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. In her lifetime she admitted to having a number of vision of Christ. She also confessed to frequently speaking to Jesus and Mary. It is upon Christ’s order that she had a picture of the vision – “Jesus I Trust in You” showing Jesus in a white garment, blessing and emanating red and white rays of light - painted. The picture now is perhaps one of the most famous representations of Christ in the world. St. Faustina was a great believer in the idea of God’s mercy which she extensively elaborated on in her famous diary, later published under the title Divine Mercy in My Soul. After years of controversies, she was finally canonized by John Paul II in 2000.
Now pilgrims coming to Krakow can follow in the steps of St. Faustina. The new pilgrimage route shows all the most important places associated with the saint. It starts in one of the more remote districts of Krakow, in the John Paul II Hospital where the nun was treated for many years (she suffered from tuberculosis). Pilgrims on their way also visit the city’s Main basilica and other churches where St. Faustina attended the services and worked. The route also introduces some more forgotten places such as a publishing house where the first “Jesus I Trust In You” images and fragments of St. Faustina’s diary were published The route ends in the most important place of cult, i.e., the Sanctuary of God’s Mercy in Lagiewniki. Lagiewniki is a former village, now incorporated into the city, with the convent where St. Faustina lived, died and was buried. Now, the Sanctuary is one of the most important places of worship in the world annually bringing pilgrims from 85 countries – including Cuba, Japan, South Korea and Philippines – to Krakow.
A journey through St. Faustina’s Krakow is bound to join the already existing John Paul II route in the top pilgrimage attractions of Poland.