Painting the Divine Mercy

“Makes Her Soul Happy”

In November of 2005, Estelle Regnier was asked if she would paint her interpretation of the Divine Mercy image for St. Charles Church. Looking back on that day, Estelle remembers that, “My mouth said, ‘I’ll try” but my mind said, “Doing this painting will be impossible”.

Two and a half years earlier, Estelle’s life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Before she became sick, her busy life included running a household with a husband and three daughters, renovating their home, working full time at her job and working full time as a professional artist.

“When I got sick”, said Estelle, “Everything in my life changed. It became necessary to give up my job. Because of the shaking and chronic pain, painting was out of the question”.

Estelle began to read the diary of St. Faustina and consider how she would approach this project. “The painting was supposed to display the face of Jesus as he looked down from the cross”, said Estelle, “As I viewed the other six or seven versions of the painting, I thought none of them contained all the emotions that I felt Jesus would have experienced”.

Estelle describes how the worked progressed. “Each time, before I began to paint, I said the Divine Mercy Chaplet so God would guide me to paint what He wanted. After painting the background I did the eyes and then the rest of the face. On days I didn’t feel well enough to paint, I would sit in my studio and look at His face – it would make me feel stronger.“

Working on the portrait was physically demanding. "I would paint for a few hours and then have a flare up for a few days and sometimes a few weeks. There were other times when I would get lost in the painting and feel like I wasn't in control of my hand - it was being guided in some way. The portrait took me five months to complete - longer than any other painting I’ve ever done.”

When asked what she thought was the purpose of the painting, Estelle explains, “Our Lord made it clear that the painting itself is not what is important. In St. Faustina’s diary Jesus says, "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace. By the means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls”. “The purpose of this painting”, Estelle continues, “Is to be a vehicle of God's grace - if it is revered with trust in His mercy”.

Estelle reflects on what this project has meant to her. She says,” During my illness, one of my greatest losses has been the satisfaction I feel when I paint. Before I got sick, painting would make my soul happy – I got lost in the colors. Many times while I was working on this painting that feeling came back and that made me very happy”.

Divine Mercy Chaplet explained. In this Video, Roman Catholic speaker Ken Yasinski reflects upon the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. He explains the Divine Mercy prayer which is said on Rosary beads.