The Divine Mercy Image: Meaning, the Original Painting and “Jesus, I Trust in You”

The Divine Mercy image shows the risen Jesus walking forward, his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand touching his heart, from which two rays stream out, one pale and one red, with the words “Jesus, I trust in You” at the bottom. St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, said that Jesus asked her in 1931 to have this image painted and venerated throughout the world. The original was painted in Vilnius in 1934; the most widely known version was painted in Kraków in 1943. Below are the meaning of the image, the story of the original painting and the later versions, the promises connected with it, and how to honor it.

A short prayer before the Divine Mercy image, written for this page:

The meaning of the image

• The rays. St. Faustina wrote that Jesus explained the two rays: the pale ray stands for the Water that makes souls righteous, and the red ray for the Blood that is the life of souls. They recall the blood and water that flowed from the side of Christ on the Cross:

• The raised right hand blesses us; the left hand points to the source of mercy, his Heart, under his garment.
• The risen Jesus steps toward us with the marks of the nails: the image shows the Lord on the evening of Easter, when he breathed on the apostles and gave them power to forgive sins (John 20:19–23).
• “Jesus, I trust in You” (in Polish, Jezu, ufam Tobie) is the signature Jesus asked for: trust is the response to mercy.

The original painting (Vilnius, 1934)

St. Faustina’s confessor in Vilnius, Blessed Michael Sopoćko, commissioned the artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski to paint the image under her direction. Faustina visited the studio many times and, according to her diary, wept that the painting could not show the Lord as beautiful as she had seen him. The finished image was first displayed publicly at the Shrine of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius in April 1935, during the closing of the Jubilee Year of the Redemption. After decades of hiding during and after World War II, it was restored and since 2005 has hung in the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The Kraków image (1943) and other versions

After Faustina’s death in 1938, the painter Adolf Hyła painted a version for the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Kraków-Łagiewniki, where she is buried. This version, later repainted with a floor beneath the Lord’s feet, became the best-known Divine Mercy image in the world, especially after Pope St. John Paul II canonized Faustina in 2000 and established Divine Mercy Sunday. Other popular versions, such as the one painted in the United States by Robert Skemp, follow the same pattern.

How to honor the Divine Mercy image

• Display it in your home in a place of honor and pray before it.
• Have it blessed by a priest.
• Venerate it on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, when the image is displayed in many churches. See Divine Mercy Sunday.
• Pray the Chaplet before it, especially at three o’clock. See the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the 3 o’clock prayer.

Frequently asked questions

What do the red and pale rays mean?

According to St. Faustina, the pale ray stands for the Water that cleanses souls (Baptism and Confession) and the red ray for the Blood that is the life of souls (the Eucharist).

Where is the original Divine Mercy image?

In the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was painted by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski in 1934.

Which is the “correct” Divine Mercy image?

The Church does not require one version. The Vilnius original was painted under St. Faustina’s direction; the Kraków version by Adolf Hyła is the most widespread.

More Divine Mercy prayers

• Divine Mercy Chaplet
• Divine Mercy novena
• Divine Mercy Sunday
• Divine Mercy 3 o’clock prayer
• St. Faustina prayer
• Sacred Heart novena

Texts and sources

• John 19:34 (Douay-Rheims).
• History summarized from public accounts of the Vilnius and Kraków images; St. Faustina’s Diary is described, not quoted.