In Poland during the early 1930s, Jesus appeared to a religious sister, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. These private revelations had one key theme: the love and mercy of God. The relevance of this message was evident then and would continue to resound in importance throughout the social and political upheaval of the 20th century.

One of Jesus’ requests was the institution of a feast of God’s mercy. St. Faustina records in her diary, “I desire that the Feast of mercy be a refuge and shelter for souls ? let no soul fear to draw near to me ? It is my desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter” (Diary, no. 699). After St. Faustina’s canonization in 2000, the Vatican declared that the Second Sunday of Easter would be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.