The Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus, founded in 1947 by Fr. Michael Sopoćko, the confessor and spiritual director of Sr. Faustina, formed in obedience to the Church and its evangelical mission, on May 13, 2008, was approved as a religious institute with papal rights.
The Diary of Saint Sr. Faustina provides the words of the Lord Jesus, which determine the purpose and spirituality of the new religious community:
“... I saw Jesus in all His unspeakable beauty. He said to me that He desired that such a Congregation be founded as soon as possible – and you shall live in it together with your companions. My Spirit shall be the rule of your life. Your life is to be modelled on Mine, from the crib to My death on the Cross. Penetrate My mysteries, and you will know the abyss of My mercy towards creatures and My unfathomable goodness - and this you shall make known to the world. Through your prayers, you shall mediate between Heaven and Earth” (Diary, 438).
“Your purpose and that of your companions is to unite yourselves with Me as closely as possible through love; you will reconcile Earth with Heaven, you will soften the just anger of God, and you will plead for mercy for the world. I place in your care two pearls very precious to My Heart: these are the souls of priests and religious. You will pray particularly for them; their power will come from your devastation” (Diary, 531).
The first visit of Father Sopoćko to the Sisters in Myślibórz described in the religious Diary:
“It was 1947. At the railway station in Myślibórz - heavily chugging, a train stopped. A few people got off, among them one could spot the slightly stooped figure of a 59-year old priest dressed in a threadbare cassock. His curious, blue eyes were sparkling from behind glasses. His deep and penetrating gaze swept across the faces of those well-known Sisters waiting for him. Following the initial, very quick and balanced welcoming gestures, he asked: “Is there a small church near your convent?” - “Yes, Father” - the Sisters answered astonished. “And is there a stained-glass window in this church?” - “Yes, Father. And how do you know?” - “Please, take me there immediately”. The Reverend Professor was rushing, not paying attention to passers-by or streets. He entered through a gate - first, the fruit garden, and then - the church, and for a long time stayed in the church alone with the writings of the Sister, whom he believed was a saint. He knelt down and prayed, looking with emotion at the window with its slightly damaged stained-glass, which he had been told about by Sr. Faustina. Everything was as she said - the stained-glass window depicted the scene of the crucifixion, and beneath the Cross he noted entwined shoots of red roses”.
The stained-glass window in the Church of the Holy Cross in Myślibórz (Poland)
- at present the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy
Father Michael Sopoćko, “Memoirs” 1948:
“Almost everything that Sr. Faustina foretold in the matter of that Congregation happened precisely as she had said. When on November 16, 1944 in Vilnius I accepted at night the private vows of the first six Sisters, and when three years later I came to the first house of this Congregation in Myślibórz, I was amazed by the striking similarity to what the late Sr. Faustina had told me (...) In the altar’s nave I noticed a slightly broken stained glass window, which portrayed Jesus’ death on the Cross. I gazed at it with joy and amazement, because Sr. Faustina spoke to me of such a church and stained glass window”.
In 1973 the Congregation assumed the new, shortened name: the Sisters of Merciful Jesus. At present, the Congregation implements its charisma, acquired from their founder, in a few dozen congregation houses in Poland and abroad. The main feature of the congregation’s spirituality is the contemplation of God in His Mercy, limitless trust, and following Jesus in practising works of mercy, especially towards the most needy.
Together with a multitude of lay worshippers of the Divine Mercy, Sisters of this Congregation spreads the worship of Merciful Jesus. Through prayer and devoted service to others, they continuously obtain Divine Mercy for the world, and in particular, the grace of mercy for the dying and the grace of the Divine blessing for priests and religious.
With their apostolic activities, the Sisters try to respond to the present needs of the Church. Among other things, they run hospices and centres for the protection of unborn children, conduct retreats and catechize.
Through their daily prayer, Jesus, I trust in You, they entrust the apo-stolic works and the testimony of their lives to Divine Mercy. For them, the religious vows mean complete entrustment to God. They do not rely on their own strengths, but on Divine omnipotence.
Chapel in the new religious house of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus in Myślibórz
“O my Jesus, how immensely I rejoice at the assurance You have given me that the Congregation would come into being. (…) and I see how great is the glory which it will give to God. It will be the reflection of God’s greatest attribute, that is His Divine Mercy. Unceasingly will they intercede for Divine Mercy for themselves and for the entire world, and every act of mercy will flow from God’s love, that love with which they will be overfilled” (Diary, 664).