Mary as “Our Lady of Mercy” has been venerated since the beginning of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, which bears this title in its name. That this devotion deepened over the years was mainly due to St. Faustina’s own devotion, following revelations which she recorded in her “Diary”; and to the theology of the Mother of Mercy, which John Paul II stated in the encyclical “Dives in misericordia.” Echoes of and literal quotations from these works can be found in the (recent) Constitutions of 1985, in the Congregation’s prayer book, in the texts of its songs and in the experience of deeper personal devotion to Our Lady among modern generations of sisters. Mary is venerated in the Congregation first and foremost as the Immaculate Mother of the Son of God – Mercy Incarnate, who participated most fully in His saving work, so “Mary is the one who has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God’s mercy. She knows its price, she knows how great it is.” (DM 9). She is also the mother of all people, to whom she shows mercy, leading them to the sources of the Saviour’s mercy. She is the most perfect model of Christian life and of all virtues, and the most effective means of obtaining graces from God, who is rich in mercy. Herself most fully endowed with grace, from generation to generation she proclaims the mercy of God and continually obtains mercy for the world.
