Congregation
Sisters of Merciful Jesus

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Merciful Jesus, founded in 1947 by Father Michael Sopoćko, confessor and spiritual director of Sister Faustina, was established in obedience to the Church and her missionary mandate, and on May 13, 2008, was approved as a religious institute with papal authority.

The Diary of Saint Faustina provides the words of Jesus, defining the purpose and spirit of the new religious community:

“… I saw Jesus in all His indescribable beauty. He told me that He desired such a Congregation to be founded as soon as possible – and that you would live in it with your companions. My Spirit will be the rule of your life. Your life must be modeled on Mine, from the manger to My death on the Cross. Penetrate My mysteries, and you will know the depths of My mercy towards creatures and My infinite goodness – and you will make this known to the world. Through your prayers you will mediate between Heaven and Earth” (Diary, 438).

“Your aim and that of your companions is to unite yourself as closely as possible to Me through love; you will reconcile Earth with Heaven, you will appease the just wrath of God, and you will beg mercy for the world. I entrust to you two jewels very precious to My Heart: the souls of priests and religious. You will pray especially for them; their strength will come from your destruction” (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 depicts the scene of the crucifixion, and beneath the Cross he noted entwined shoots of red roses.

Stained glass window in the Church of the Holy Cross in Myślibórz (Poland)
– now the Shrine of Divine Mercy

Father Michael Sopoćko, “Memoirs” 1948:

“Almost everything that Sister Faustina predicted about the affairs of that Congregation came to pass exactly as she said. When on November 16, 1944 in Vilnius I accepted the private vows of the first six sisters at night, and when three years later I went to the first house of this Congregation in Myślibórz, I was amazed at the astonishing similarity with what the late Sister Faustina had told me (…) In the nave of the altar I noticed a slightly broken stained glass window, depicting the death of Jesus on the Cross. I looked at it with joy and amazement, because Sister Faustina had told me about such a church and such stained glass windows.”

Chapel in the new religious house of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus in Myślibórz