Vatican City, May 18, 2020 / 06:15 am
Pope Francis has decreed that St. Faustina Kowalska's feast day be added to the Roman Calendar as an optional memorial to be celebrated by all on October 5.
The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship issued the decree May 18, the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II, who canonized St. Faustina on April 13, 2000, making her the first saint of the new millennium.
The decree said that Pope Francis had taken the step in response to petitions from pastors, religious men and women and associations of the faithful, and "having considered the influence exercised by the spirituality of St. Faustina in different parts of the world."
It said that he had therefore "decreed that the name of St. Maria Faustina (Helena) Kowalska, virgin, be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar and that her optional memorial be celebrated by all on 5 October."