History of the Third Image of Merciful Jesus
Due to the post-war political situation, the first image by E. M. Kazimirowski remained inaccessible and little known in Poland. Thus, many images were created with iconography different from the revelation, presenting Jesus according to the painter vision. Therefore, the Polish Episcopate intervened in this matter. The reservations concerned the theological content of the image and the fact that the devotion arose from a private, yet unknown revelation. As a result, Fr. Michał Sopoćko, Spiritual Director of Sister Faustina, with the advice of Bishop Barda, the ordinary of the Przemyśl Diocese, announced in 1954 a contest for the image of Merciful Jesus. From among the works submitted to the contest, the Archbishop's Artistic Commission in Krakow on September 2, 1954 selected an image by prof. Ludomir Ślendziński, rector of the Cracow University of Technology, painted according to the instructions of Fr. Michał Sopoćko. The painting by Ludomir Sleńdziński was positively assessed in terms of artistic, dogmatic and liturgical.
The painting, very similar to the work of Kazimirowski, shows the Savior entering the Cenacle through a closed door. His right hand blesses the beholder, and his left hand lifts the robe around the invisible heart, from where two rays emerge: pale and red. The theological message of the performance is as Faustina wrote in her Diary: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the water that makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls ... These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when my agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. (Diary, 299). Father Sopoćko, following the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, sees it as a symbol of the Holy Sacraments. The pale ray is the justification in the sacrament of baptism and penance, while the red one signifies the remaining sacraments, strengthening and enriching God's life in the soul.
The image in the main iconography presented appearing Jesus remained consistent with the vision of Sister Faustina. While the change in the content of the image was the appearance of Jesus to the Apostles after the Resurrection in the Upper Room, based on the Gospel of St. John (cf.J.20,19-23) as the moment of instituting the sacrament of Penance. The figure of Jesus is depicted against the background of the closed upper room door. The image of Ludomir Sleńdziński, with the iconography deepened by the evangelical message, facilitated the dissemination of the image for worship in churches, as approved by the Polish Episcopal Commission.
The subject of Divine Mercy was no stranger to Sleńdziński, who, in the years 1947-48, painted images of the Merciful Jesus.
After the adjudication of the contest for the image of Merciful Jesus and approval on October 5, 1954 by the Main Commission of the Polish Episcopate in Warsaw, the Image of Merciful Jesus by L. Sledzinski became the OFFICIAL ONE. Fr. Sopoćko, on October 31, 1954, commissioned L. Sleńdziński for another painting, which he called a copy of the competition painting. The painting was completed on January 6, 1955. It is an image of Merciful Jesus, oil painted on canvas, dimensions: 198 cm x 110,5 cm.
The Image presented the figure of Christ walking inside of the Upper Room, en face, in a slight counterpoint. The right hand is raised in a gesture of blessing, the left hand is folded at the height of the chest, lifting the robe with the fingers in the place of the invisible heart, from where single rays radiate: red-amaranth and white-aquamarine, meaning Blood and Water, flowing from the side of Christ pierced on the cross. A long coat of light, warm yellow color with numerous reflections from rays, falling on bare feet. There are visible signs of wounds on the hands and feet. The folds of the robe are plastically prepared with the character's anatomy marked. An oval face with a calm expression and downward gaze, surrounded by brownish red stubble. Brownish red hair, parted in the middle, slightly wavy, falling down on the shoulders and back.
Around his head a luminous and full nimbus. In the background, closed, planked doors flanked with columns, and a stone floor made of square panes. At the top, an inscription: Peace be with you, at the bottom: Jesus, I trust in You! The harmonious movements of the figures reflect the peace, frozen in the slight, gentle walking movement. A face with the features of goodness and gentleness. The interior of the Cenacle is soaked with an apparently imperceptible glow.
The floor, columns, doors, even the shadow cast by the figure of Jesus, visible on the floor and the door, are saturated with luminosity. To present the stone elements of the interior, the painter used a warm gray-violet color tone, which shows brick-coral reflections from red rays to gray-olive, whitened by light pale rays.
The gray-violet tone of the picture, calm in reception, especially of the background, is made up of countless colors placed next to each other. This general gray is made up of a great abundance of colors that can be seen up close, just like almost every element of the picture, e.g., robe or rays. In this painting, for the first time in L. Sleńdziński, the following inscriptions Peace be with you appear at the top, and at the bottom - Jesus, I trust in You!
In 1958, Fr. Sopoćko placed a picture in the Monastery of Reformed Fathers in Krakow, in the chapel of Divine Mercy. In 1960, The Fathers moved the painting to a corridor where religion lessons were held. After six years, Fr. Sopoćko found a neglected painting there, covered with a layer of dust. That is why he then asked Ludomir Sleńdziński to renew the image.
On April 14, 1973, the painting from Krakow was brought to Białystok, to the apartment of Fr. Sopoćko and has undergone conservation. On September 3, 1973, Bishop Henryk Gulbinowicz, the Administrator of the Archdiocese in Białystok, consecrated the restored image of Merciful Jesus, which on that day was hung in the Białystok pro-cathedral on the wall of the eastern transept of the church, next to the altar of St. Anthony.
In 1986, during the renovation of the basilica before the 600th anniversary of the Archdiocese, the painting was temporarily moved to the chapel of Our Lady of Mercy - Ostra Brama, and then placed on the wall altar in the former chapel of St. Stanislaus Kostka, which from that moment became the Chapel of Divine Mercy. Finally, the painting was placed in the new altar, built in the Jubilee Year 2000.
I hope that the pilgrims who visited with me Bialystok - the City of Mercy, remember this image. We must all remember Jesus' words to Saint Faustina: "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace" (Diary 313).
Until Tomorrow
fr. george