HISTORY OF THE FIRST IMAGE OF MERCIFUL JESUS
Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. (Diary 47)
Father Sopoćko commissioned the painting of the Merciful Jesus at the beginning of 1934 to a painter from Vilnius, Prof. E. Kazimirowski. Kazimirowski's apartment and studio were located in the same building where Fr. Sopoćko lived. Sister Faustina, who stayed in Vilnius the whole time while the image was painted, she was coming to the studio to provide details of the image's appearance. Father Sopoćko personally made sure that the image was painted exactly according to her instructions. The canvas on which he commissioned the painting was adjusted to the dimensions of the frame previously given to him by one of the parishioners. Painting the image took about half a year and when the painting was ready to hang, Fr. Sopoćko, wanted make sure how the inscription was to be placed on the painting, he asked sister Faustina to ask Jesus about it: “Once my confessor [Father Sopoćko] asked me where the inscription should be placed, because there was not enough space in the picture for everything. I answered, “I will pray and give you an answer next week.” When I left the confessional and was passing before the Blessed Sacrament, I received an inner understanding about the inscription. Jesus reminded me of what He had told me the first time; namely, that these three words must be clearly in evidence: “Jesus, I trust in You.” [“Jezu, Ufam Tobie.”] I understood that Jesus wanted the whole formula to be there, but He gave no direct orders to this effect as He did for these three words.” (Diary 327)
The dictated inscription, which is an important element of the painting, Fr. Sopoćko made on an additional plate and placed it under the painting. Then, at the explicit request of Jesus, given by Sister Faustina, Fr. Sopoćko began efforts to hang the image in the church of St. Michael in Vilnius, where he was the rector. On April 4, 1937, with the consent of the Archbishop of Vilnius, Romuald Jałbrzykowski, the painting of the Merciful Savior, after the positive opinion of experts, was hung next to the main altar in the church of St. Michael, where the faithful for about eleven years held it in great veneration.
The second commission of experts established in 1941 on the recommendation of the Metropolitan Archbishop, ruled that "The painting is made artistically and constitutes a valuable achievement in contemporary religious art." (Protocol of the Commission on the evaluation and conservation of the image of the Most Merciful Savior in the Church of St. Michael in Vilnius, dated May 27, 1941, signed by experts, prof. Puchaty and the conservator Fr. Dr. P. Sledziewski).
In 1948, after the communist authorities closed the church of St. Michael, the painting (without a frame with an inscription on it) was secretly and illegally bought from a Lithuanian worker who was liquidating the church's furnishings. Two devotees of Divine Mercy (a Pole and a Lithuanian woman), aware of the consequences of the Soviet authorities, took a rolled-up painting from the church and hid it in the attic for some time to wait out the possible threat.
After some time, the painting was donated to the church of The Holy Spirit, where all movable property from the liquidated church was previously deposited. The Pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit, Father Jan Ellert was not interested in keeping the painting or displaying it - he hid it in the archives at the back of the church.
Only in 1956, a friend of Fr. Sopoćko, Fr. Józef Grasewicz, who returned to Vilnius after being imprisoned in a Soviet labor camp for several years, decided to look for the painting. Before that, he contacted Fr. Sopoćko, who was upset by the fact that until then he could not learn anything from anyone about the fate of the image of Merciful Jesus. Father Grasewicz was allowed to return to pastoral work in Nowa Ruda. Before leaving Vilnius, he asked the parish priest of the Church of The Holy Spirit to return the painting to his parish. The parish priest did so willingly. Father Grasewicz took the painting to Nowa Ruda and hung it in the church, keeping its origin a secret.
At the same time, Fr. Sopoćko considered the possibility of bringing the painting to Poland but stopped making efforts when it turned out that it would not be safe. Despite many changes in the administration of the church in Nowa Ruda, the painting remained there for about thirty years.
In 1970, the communist local authorities in Nowa Ruda decided to make the church a warehouse. The equipment from the liquidated church was transported to another parish. For a seemingly trivial reason (lack of a sufficiently long ladder), the painting remained in the abandoned church. Father Sopoćko, concerned about this event, while living in Poland, could do nothing about it. Father Grasewicz was also unable to fulfill Sopoćko's request - to move the painting to another safe place. He had to leave the parish, and none of the priests in Belarus dared to accept the painting. The image of Merciful Jesus was left in an abandoned wooden church for many years, only thanks to God's providence, survived the dangerous time of communism.
Uncertainty about the fate of the painting accompanied Fr. Sopoćko until the end of his life. He repeatedly sent confidential requests to bring the painting to Vilnius. The request to hang the painting in the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, where it was first displayed for public veneration, was not submitted until 1982 (after the death of Father Sopocko). The then vicar of the Gate of Dawn, Fr. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who helped to bring the image from Belarus to Lithuania (today Archbishop Emeritus), considered this idea unrealistic and proposed to hang the painting in the church of The Holy Spirit, where the pastor was Fr. Aleksander Kaszkiewicz (today Bishop of Grodno). The priest reluctantly at first, but nevertheless agreed to hang the painting in the church. Therefore, Fr. Grasewicz decided to bring the painting back to Vilnius.
In order not to provoke the communists about the unusual origin of the painting, on a November night in 1986, without the knowledge of the inhabitants of Nowa Ruda, who gathered to pray in an abandoned church, a previously prepared copy was hung in place of the original painting. With the help of the nuns of the Mother of Mercy (the Gate of Dawn), the image taken off the stretcher was rolled up and transported the same night to Grodno, and then to the church of The Holy Spirit in Vilnius.
In the church of The Holy Spirit, at the behest of Fr. Kaszkiewicz, the painting was restored - damaged places have been painted over with a new layer of paint. This treatment significantly changed the appearance of the Lord Jesus' face. The painting has a red inscription JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU. Moreover, in order to fit the painting into the recess in the altar, its lower edge has been tucked in, and an additional oval part has been glued on to the top.
These changes were not consistent with the artistic composition of the painting made by prof. Kazimirowski with the instruction of Sister Faustina and Father Sopocko. It was a brutal damage that seriously reduced the original value of the work.
The painting placed in the side altar of the church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius for many years did not arouse particular interest, neither of pilgrims nor church authorities. The lack of proper conditions of the image exposure contributed to unfavorable changes in its matter. Thanks to the kindness of the then pastor of the church of the Holy Spirit Fr. Mirosław Grabowski, in July 2001, the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus started to create a new Home in Vilnius and took care of this unique, priceless image of Jesus the Most Merciful Savior, which was created in the atmosphere of God's miracle - the prayer and suffering of St. Faustina, with her presence and participation.
Thanks to the efforts of a secular group of worshipers of the Divine Mercy in Łódź and the dedication of the Sisters, in April 2003 a thorough restoration of the painting was carried out in the chapel of the Religious House of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus in Vilnius. All paintwork and stains caused by moisture were removed from the painting, which have been previously attempted to remove with chemicals. Some damage to the canvas on which the image is painted could not be repaired. These are the traces of the painting being removed from the stretcher many times (holes left by the nails holding the painting) and the lower edge folded around four centimeters (in 1987 the painting was fitted to the altar recess in the Church of the Holy Spirit). These defects have remained, and although they are invisible when presenting the image, it is, among other things, a unique individual feature of this image.
After a thorough renovation, the painting was returned to the church of The Holy Spirit - a parish church for Poles living in Vilnius, where Masses and services are held only in Polish.
To create the right conditions for individual contemplative prayer - adoration of the image of Merciful Jesus, for everyone, at any time, regardless of national origin, the Metropolitan of Vilnius, Card. Audrys Juozas Bačkis decided to transfer the image of Merciful Jesus to a neighboring small church of The Holy Trinity, reconsecrated as the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy.
The circumstances surrounding this event provoked controversial discussions in many media publications, and thus, inadvertently, caused a great positive promotion reminiscent of the existence of the first image of MercifulJesus in Vilnius - the story of its creation resulting from the Message of Divine Mercy transmitted through St. Faustina.
Since September 2005, the first image of Merciful Jesus has been venerated at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Vilnius, where in the daily adoration of the Holy Image of the Savior, nuns and numerous pilgrims entrust the fate of the world to God's Mercy. The Metropolitan of Vilnius entrusted the service at this Sanctuary to the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus. Dozens of pilgrims traveling with me had the opportunity not only to see this miraculous image, but also to entrust to Merciful Jesus themselves and their loved ones. Jesus, I trust in You.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george