HISTORY OF THE FIRST IMAGE OF MERCIFUL JESUS - Vilnius, Eugeniusz Kazimirowski

In the beginning of 1934, in Vilnius, Father Sopocko entrusted painting of the image of Merciful Jesus to artist painter Eugeniusz Kazimirowski who resided in the same building. Since then, sister Faustina visited the painter’s studio to give some instructions and tell the artist about details of the image. Father Sopocko did his best to make the image painted precisely following her instructions. He adjusted the canvas on which he asked the image of Merciful Jesus to be painted, to the size of the old frame donated earlier by one of parishioners. When the painting was ready to be displayed (June 1934) (see Memories), he requested sister Faustina to ask Lord Jesus about how to inscribe it:

"Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature:
Jesus, I trust in You" (Diary, 47).

"I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces
to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature:
Jesus, I trust in You" (Diary, 327).

Having received the answer, Father Sopocko put the inscription, constituting a significant element of this picture, in the frame under the painting. Then on April 4, 1937, at Lord Jesus’ explicit request expressed by sister Faustina, Father Sopocko hung the picture at Saint Michael Church in Vilnius where he was a rector.

In 1948, after the communist authorities had closed Saint Michael church, the picture was lodged
at the Holy Spirit church, where the parish priest, Father Jan Ellert, was not interested in keeping the picture. Therefore priest Józef Grasewicz, Fr Sopocko’s friend, took it from there to the parish church in Nowa Ruda. The picture remained here for forty years, despite many changes
in the church administration.

Around 1970 the local authorities of Nowa Ruda decided to transform the church into a warehouse. Father Sopocko stayed in Poland at that time, yet he was still interested in the image, so he asked Father Grasewicz to shift it into another, safer place. He confidentially asked that the picture be displayed at the Ausros Vartu in Vilnius, where it was originally exposed for public veneration.
That request was transmitted no sooner than in 1982 (after Father’s Sopocko’s death). Fr Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the Ausros Vartu curate of that time, considered this idea infeasible and suggested that it should be displayed at the Holy Spirit Church, where the parish priest was Father Aleksander Kaszkiewicz who, although reluctantly at first, agreed to have the picture in the church.
Thus Father Grasewicz decided to bring the picture back to Vilnius.

In 1986, the damaged picture was repainted at Father Kaszkiewicz’s request. This procedure considerably changed the appearance of Lord Jesus’ countenance. The inscription "JESUS,
I TRUST IN YOU" was added in red colour, along with an oval part to cover the recess in the upper part of the altar. These changes did not conform to the picture’s artistic concept presented
in 1934 by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski with sister Faustina’s and Father Sopocko’s participation.
In 1987 the Image of Merciful Jesus was hung in the side altar of the Holy Spirit Church.
For a dozen or so years t awaited its rediscovery without arousing any special attention.

The conservation carried out in 2003 restored the image’s primary appearance. On the new frame
a plate was placed, designed by a conservator, with the inscription: JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU
(the frame with the original signature was lost while the painting was hidden).

On the Feast of the Divine Mercy, April 18, 2004, the Metropolitan of Vilnius, Cardinal Audrys Juozas Backis has reconsecrated the renovated church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius into the Shrine of the Divine Mercy. At the same time he assigned a prayer service to be carried out by the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus. In September 2005, the first image of Merciful Jesus was placed in this Shrine.
Thereby an attempt was made to fulfill the wish expressed in the last will drawn up two years before the death (1973) of the picture founder, i.e. God’s servant, Father Michael Sopocko, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus, who wished that the Image of Merciful Savior to be worshipped at the Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Vilnius.

SHRINE OF DIVINE MERCY
Vilnius, Dominikonu St. 12, tel. 0037 05 2505598
e-mail: misericordiadei@yahoo.com

The Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus was founded by God’s Servant Fr. Michael Sopocko in response to Our Lord Jesus’ wish which was conveyed to s. Faustina:

"God demands that there be a Congregation which will proclaim the mercy of God
to the world and, by its prayers, obtain it for the World" (Diary, 436).

The new Congregation (see Congregation) came into existence in 1941 in Vilnius (three years after
s. Faustina’s death). Due to the political situation, in 1946, the sisters had to leave Vilnius
for Poland. After many efforts, on August 25, 1947, they started their community life in the assigned facility in Myslibórz. Now, the Congregation carries on an apostolic activity in 33 religious houses
in Poland and abroad.
In 2001, owing to the Vilnius Metropolitan the sisters could permanently stay in Vilnius and launch services according to the Congregation’s charisma. The Metropolitan designated for the Congregation a house in which the first image of Merciful Jesus was painted. Owing to the donators’ generosity, the house was thoroughly renovated.

In this house the first Image of Merciful Jesus was painted.
Father Sopocko and painter E. Kazimirowski lived here. At present, it is the house
of the CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF MERCIFUL JESUS, Vilnius, Rasu St. 6

On September 24, 2005, the Metropolitan,
cardinal Audrys Juozas Backis consecrated this House.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS IN RECENT YEARS

2000	Vatican	April 30, Pope John Paul II proclaimed sister Faustina saint and established the Feast of the Divine Mercy for the whole Church.
2001	Vilnius	Having celebrated - as agreed with Father Jan Kasiukiewicz, parish priest in the Holy Spirit church in Vilnius - the great nine-month Novena in front of the Image of Merciful Jesus (August 1999- April 2000), the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus, supported by the Contemplative Convents prayers, received the grace of a return to Vilnius.
2002	Cracow	Pope John Paul II performed the act of entrusting the world’s fate to the Divine Mercy and consecrated the Shrine of the Divine Mercy.
2003	Vilnius	Owing to the efforts of the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus, the first Icon of Merciful Jesus was thoroughly renovated.
2004	Vatican	Congregation for Canonization promulgated a decree acknowledging the heroism of God’s Servant Father Michael Sopocko’s virtues.
	Mysliborz	The new convent with the chapel of Jesus the King of Mercy, donated to the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus, was consecrated.
2005	Vilnius	The convent with the chapel of Saint Faustina, donated to the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus (the house in which the first image of Merciful Jesus was painted in 1934) was consecrated.
	Vilnius	Cardinal Audrys Juozas Backis officially authorised a new monastic community of the Brothers of Merciful Jesus which started its community life in Italy in 2000.
	Vilnius	On August 25, 2005, the second thanksgiving nine-month Novena for the Divine Mercy started, conducted by the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus. Thanking God for the grace of the return to Vilnius, the Congregation wished to venerate with its prayers:

The centenary of saint Faustina’s birth
Fiftieth anniversary of the authorisation of the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus
Seventieth anniversary of the first public veneration of the Image of Merciful Jesus

2006	Vilnius	April 23, on the Feast of the Divine Mercy the thanksgiving Novena was solemnly completed.
2007	Vilnius	The monastery with the chapel of Merciful Jesus, donated to the Community of the Brothers of Merciful Jesus, was consecrated. The Brothers’ first holy orders were held.

Beatification celebration of God’s servant, Frather Michael Sopocko,
the confessor of sister Faustyna Kowalska, and founder of Congregation of Sister of Merciful Jesus,
will be hold on 28 September 2008 in the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Bialystok
(70 years after death of the Saint sister Faustyna)