Pope John Paul II was born May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. He was born Karol J. Wojtyla. He was the youngest of two siblings.

When he was only nine when his mother died, when he was twelve his brother died, and when his father died he was twenty-one. Growing up, John Paul was athletic, he enjoyed skiing, hiking, and swimming.

In 1938 he went to a university called Cracow's Jagiellonian, a school for drama, but in 1929 Nazis closed the university.

John Paul II was also an unbelievably generous man, able to forgive even the most terrible sins. On 13th May 1981, a member of a Turkish faction ‘Grey Wolves’ Mehmet Ali Agca attempted to assassinate him. Two years later Karol Wojtyła visited the man in jail. ‘I spoke to him as a brother, whom I have pardoned. He deserves my complete trust.’ – the Polish pope said afterward and asked the court to pardon him. In 2008, the man who attacked the pope converted to Catholicism.

Pryer For The Intercession of Saint John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the Church with Saint John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Spirit of love to shine through him. Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shephard. He has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you. Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Faustina was born Helen Kowalska on August 25, 1905, in Glogowiec, Poland. She was the third eldest of ten siblings. Her family was poor but they were religious.

By the time she was seven she already felt her calling to the religious life, she joined the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. When she finished school she wanted to join a convent but her parents refused to let her join. Instead of that, she became a housekeeper to help support her family and herself.

When she was nineteen she experienced her first vision of Jesus, Jesus was suffering in the vision. She said that Jesus told her to leave Warsaw and to join a convent.

While in Warsaw, she approached many different convents but was turned away every time., because she was judged on her appearance and sometimes rejected for poverty.

The mother superior for the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy took in St. Faustina on one condition, that she could pay for her own things. Faustina began to save her money and make deposits to the Convent, while she was working as a housekeeper.

On February 22, 1931, Faustina was visited by Jesus, who presented himself as the "King of Divine Mercy" wearing a white garment with red and pale rays coming from his heart. She was asked to become the apostle and secretary of God's mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for reemphasizing God's plan of mercy for the world.

In her diary, Faustina writes:

"In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, 'paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'"