Susan Pawlukiewicz traveled to Poland three years ago bearing
immense grief over the recent loss of her mother. About seven
weeks later, she returned to the United States with a sense
of peace and gratitude - and a duffle bag filled with 35
rolled-up prints.
She wasn't sure what to do with the large pieces of art, but
the image they contained - the Divine Mercy - resonated
deeply with her.
"I'd found a place where I could go that gave me tremendous
compassion and comfort in my loss: the merciful heart of
Jesus," said Pawlukiewicz.
The experiences on that trip to Poland and the contents of
her bag eventually grew into an ambitious ministry of
promoting the Divine Mercy devotion throughout the Washington
region.
Pawlukiewicz, who proudly is "100 percent Polish," said her
efforts are in part a way to dedicate her life to God and to
thank Him for her mother. She was "the most lovely and loving
person I've ever known," said Pawlukiewicz.
The devotion to Jesus as the Divine Mercy is based on the
writings of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a young Polish nun
who died of tuberculosis in 1938. On the second Sunday of
Easter in 2000, St. John Paul II canonized Sister Faustina
while establishing the liturgical date as "Divine Mercy
Sunday."
This year, Divine Mercy Sunday is April 3.
The Divine Mercy message - that God is merciful and forgiving
and that we, too, must show mercy and forgiveness - is not
new, said the pope during the canonization homily. "But (it)
can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps
us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it
as a ray of light to the men and women of our time."
During her short life, St. Faustina reportedly received
messages from Jesus, which she recorded in a diary. In one of
her entries, she describes Jesus in detail and His desire
that she "paint an image according to the pattern you see,
with the inscription: 'Jesus, I trust in you.'" At St.
Faustina's request, an artist created the image.
A version of that painting is on the prints Pawlukiewicz
brought back with her to her Alexandria home, where her
mother spent the last 10 years of her life.
"I loved my mother dearly and learned a lot from her," said
Pawlukiewicz. "She was a very devout Catholic in a very
practical manner."
Around the same time her mother died, Pawlukiewicz also lost
her job in ship building and design.
It was a painful period, and with no family in the United
States, Pawlukiewicz booked a trip to Poland to visit
relatives. Once there, she found herself led to a number of
pilgrimage sites of St. Faustina.
In Lagiewniki - a suburb south of Krakow and the location of
the saint's remains, as well as this summer's World Youth Day
- Pawlukiewicz purchased the nearly three dozen prints of the
Divine Mercy.
Initially unsure of what to do with them, she decided to
disseminate the images for veneration at as many Catholic
institutions as she could. Pawlukiewicz, a parishioner of
Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, said she wants to
help spread the message of Divine Mercy and "the idea that
mercy and salvation is for all of us."
So far, she's gifted around 20 prints. Several Arlington
diocesan parishes have received the image, along with a
crisis pregnancy center; the Daughters of St. Paul in
Alexandria and the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington;
and local schools, including Christendom College in Front
Royal, the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg
and Divine Mercy University in Arlington (formerly the
Institute for the Psychological Sciences). St. Anthony Church
in Falls Church was the first to receive an image thee years
ago.
Pawlukiewicz said she follows St. Faustina's apostolate as
strictly as possible. In her diary entries, the saint writes
of Jesus' desire that there be a Divine Mercy image for
veneration in the main worship area of every chapel or
church. The gifted images thus are accepted by a pastor,
chaplain or mother superior with the explicit provision that
they will be placed and venerated as specified in the diary.
Before giving the images, Pawlukiewicz spends up to 20 hours
meticulously preparing them. Selecting frames at thrift and
consignment stores, she refurbishes them through sanding and
painting. The original paintings say, "Jesus I trust in you"
in Polish, so Pawlukiewicz repaints the words in English. She
sometimes accents Jesus' wounds with red paint to ensure they
show up clearly. An engraved plate identifies the image as a
gift from her and in memory of one of her family members.
Pawlukiewicz plans to obtain additional images from Poland
once the initial 35 are distributed.
The Divine Mercy ministry has led to "an enormous change of
work and priority in my life," said Pawlukiewicz. Much of her
time is spent on her ministry, but she also creates and sells
nautical art, works part time as a substitute teacher and
writes for a marine engineering magazine.
Pawlukiewicz stepped up her efforts to promote the devotion
following Pope Francis' announcement of the Jubilee Year of
Mercy. She has organized a traveling Divine Mercy image that
stays in homes for several weeks, with host families agreeing
to pray the chaplet in front of it daily.
Last year she purchased and distributed 4,000 Divine Mercy
prayer cards on Divine Mercy Sunday. This year her goal is to
give out 11,000.
Pawlukiewicz also offers short talks on the devotion to
parishes and other interested groups. And with approval from
the diocesan Multicultural Ministries Office, she started a
group called "Jezu Ufam Tobie," which in Polish means
"Jesus, I Trust in You." Twice a month the group meets at St.
Mary Church in Alexandria to recite the chaplet in English
and learn a portion in Polish.
One of the most rewarding aspects of her ministry, she said,
is when she's asked to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet at the
bedside of the sick or dying.
All her efforts are about giving people the opportunity to
develop a friendship with God "in their own personal way,"
she said.
"When people walk up to the image and kiss it, hug it or
kneel in front of it, it brings me tremendous joy," said
Pawlukiewicz. "It's powerful. It's all about each of us
having a meaningful relationship with Jesus, who is love."
Find out more
To learn how to obtain an image for veneration or for
additional information about Susan Pawlukiewicz's Divine
Mercy ministry, email susanpawlukiewicz@yahoo.com.