While the saint died at the age of 33, she had already filled hundreds of pages with the words Christ spoke to her, which is now a published volume entitled "Divine Mercy in My Soul." In 2000, St. John Paul II canonized her, instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy, and helped to spread devotion to the Divine Mercy image and chaplet.
It is also thanks to Christ's revelations to Sr. Faustina that we have the image of Divine Mercy, which depicts Jesus raising one hand in blessing, and pointing to his heat with the other. Red and white rays flow from his heart, and on the bottom of the image the phrase "Jesus, I trust in you" is written.
Ana pointed to the phrase, which is now well-known throughout the world, explaining that when it came to her vocation "I just did it. And in hard moments I'm just reminding myself of this first moment when I heard it, that God wants me to follow him."
She said she feels a special "connection" with those who come to the shrine, which is the site where St. Faustina lived, died and where she is buried, in which Jesus is the center. For the youth who visit, Ana said the phrase "Jesus, I trust in you" sends the message "not to be afraid, to trust."
"This is the thing," she said, "because nowadays there are so many things (happening) and you don't know who to trust. Some people misbehave toward you, they have hurt you…and it's hard to say 'I trust in you Jesus.'"
But when we're able to trust, it means "you know he's God, it means you believe that he wants best for you. That's how I see it," Ana said.
Pointing to the message of mercy given to the world through St. Faustina, who is one of the patrons of WYD in Krakow, Ana said the message is relatable to many people today because when reading St. Faustina's diary, "you see that she was a weak person, she couldn't do almost anything without the help of God."
However, despite her weaknesses, the saint always trusted in God and accepted "the grace that God wanted to give to her, whether it was suffering, whether it was something hard," or whether it was joy.
"She was took all of it, she was trusting, she was giving herself all to God," Ana said, adding that "that's the secret I think, and that's the message for people: whatever you have, you have sufferings, you also have talents…everything, just give it to God and he will do the best with it."
For those people who might be thinking about a religious vocation, Ana noted that with so many different communities, the possibilities seem "infinite."
In order to understand which one is right, "it's best to ask God because he knows your heart and he knows why he created you, and he knows you best," she said.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
The best thing to do is just "listen to him," she said, adding that "of course it's your decision what to do with this answer he gives you, but working with God is something great."
Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.