In the hidden providence of Our Lord and His unfathomable designs, He arranged, through a variety of circumstances, that the ORIGINAL PAINTING OF THE DIVINE MERCY IMAGE be executed on the premises of the Visitation Nuns Monastery in Vilnius, Lithuania!
There are many sources and documents that tell of the truth of this relationship and occurrence.
This year we share a novelized version of how the painting came to be executed on the Visitation Nuns 
monastic property, translated from the Polish work, Chapter 6, by Father Malinowski. Source: http://www.malinski.pl/?inc=read&id=1698
In the dialogues below, Professor Priest is Father Sopocko, Sister or Helenka is St. Faustina and the artist is Eugeniusz Kazimirowski.
The chapter opens with a conversation between Fr Sopocko and Sister Faustina.
Red highlights indicate reference to the Visitation Sisters.
“And what about painting the Image? asked Father Sopoćko.
– Exactly. This is also a task for the priest Professor.
– I may surprise my Sister, but it occurred to me to ask my friend, a neighbor almost, Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, to paint such a picture.
– Painter?
– But not specific.
– A professional painter?
– Yes.
– A religious man?
Just. I wanted to say that. He is a believer and practitioner. You could get along with him.
– Salary, of course. As Saint Paul writes: pay must be paid for work. But I already take it on myself.
– Because it’s supposed to be an icon, not a picture.
– We’ll talk about it yet. Together with Mr. Eugeniusz.
– When?
– And my Sister is in a hurry?
– very much.
– Well, let’s do it. I will meet him today. And I’ll arrange it for tomorrow afternoon because I have a lecture before noon. It is best here in the monastery. For such an initial determination. And then we’ll see.
She thanked God during the evening prayers and then in bed: “Everything is as you came up with it, I am in Vilnius, with Father Sopoćko and Kazimirowski.”
She was a little afraid of this meeting with Kazimirowski. In fact, she was afraid of painting. After all, a lot will depend on this man. How is he? She kept asking herself this question. After all, painters, like all artists, are so different. “Can I explain to him, can he understand what I mean, will he take over the image that I have in my soul, can he paint you, Jesus, the most beautiful man in the world? What a pity you did not teach me to paint. maybe even you had to keep this terrible daub, which I had had in Warsaw, maybe it was not the worst of it, but I destroyed it, there is nothing to talk about. “
She waited impatiently for this meeting.
He came with Father Sopoćko. Slim, small, for now silent, with a distinct face and large eyes. Specific:
– What should I paint?
– Did not the professor explain to you?
– He declared that Sister would inform me about everything.
– Please, make a picture of Jesus walking and blessing.
– Maybe just a bust, just to the waist.
– No, the whole character.
– If the whole figure is to be, it would be better to put Jesus on the throne with a gesture of blessing. They often show Jesus like that in the Eastern icons.
– No, Jesus is going to be walking.
Helenka said all this – and she suffered. “How can I be so insolent and entrust you with foreign hands in the hands of a man who has never seen you.” Meanwhile, the painter said:
– In all church iconography, Jesus never was depicted so.
“That’s how He appeared to me,” Helenka managed. – And he instructed me to paint him
Did Jesus show up? – asked the painter visibly shaken. – And he ordered his Sister to be painted like this? – he said in a low voice.
Helenka was all wet. She wiped the sweat from her forehead.
– Yes sir.
– And I’m sorry, I did not know. It will be like Sister wishes. Jesus will be painted how he walks and blesses.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
– This is the beginning of a new era in church painting – he smiled faintly.
– And it has to be an icon. And just like the signed icon. “Jesus, I trust you”. People looking at the Picture should feel the presence of Jesus, which you will show in this Image.
– I have never painted an icon before in my life, it is a specialty of Orthodox monks.
– This can be a specialty of every man who sees God and wants to pass on to people.
– The Sister needs too much from me.
– If you do not agree, I’m sorry.
– I just said I never did it in my life. But I can try. With the help of Sister and Professor priest.
– So you consent, yes?
– Yes. What format? – Mr. Eugeniusz passed on to the details.
– Big.
– Natural form? One on one? – he asked stubbornly.
– I think it may not be that big. But big.
– I will look around the studio, I have stretchers. And if not, then you will have to order a carpenter. I have one. Then I stretch the canvas, I prune. When the ground dries, I’ll let you know. Anyway, I will keep you informed.
– That would be everything? – Professor asked.
– The only question is: Where do we paint? My studio is a summer studio. Now it is unbearable in winter. And my Sister, I hear, is in a hurry. What does your sister say?
– What does the Professor advise? – she answered.
– The answer is short: either at my or at my sister’s monastery.
– Mother Superior is very friendly to me and will do anything to help us, but somehow I do not see a room where it would be possible to fit with painting.
“I live on Rosie Street ,” said Professor. – Visitation Sisters. They are very devoted to me. I will try to talk to my Mother Superior. Maybe she will find something.
– Well. Therefore, we’re getting to work.
Slowly, good news came to Helenka. First, from Father Michał Sopoćko:
– The Visitation Sisters, without any resistance, agreed to give one of their rooms to the painting studio for Mr. Kazimirowski for the winter time.
In turn, a message came from the master himself:
We can start.
They began with a Mass celebrated by the priest Professor in the beautiful chapel of the Visitation Sisters. The Celebrant even gave a short sermon about the work to be created.
– It’s supposed to be an icon. And if the icon, it is the expression of the believer’s experience. His faith, hope and love. As well as ours, because we somehow participate in this work.
He raised the mood for everyone. All the more so because the Visitation Sisters, though they were behind the grating, added splendor to the ceremony with a delicate choral singing. Helenka prayed fervently: “God, bless this work, which is to arise according to Your will, let it be Yours indeed, it does not have to be the most beautiful, because nobody can paint the spiritual beauty of Your Son anyway, but that this icon will convey Your love to people and to stimulate everyone who looks at it, to entrust you with your life. “
Then there was the breakfast prepared by the Sisters in the talking room, in the presence of the Mother Superior, who accompanied them, sitting behind the grating.
And painting started.
Surprisingly for everyone it turned out that the painter had his own requirements.
– I have to have a model.
– How’s that model? – Helenka was amazed.
– Someone who will pose for me.
– It is supposed to be the Lord Jesus.
– So instead of the Lord Jesus. Helenka experienced another shock.
“But you have to paint Jesus, not the model,” she repeated.
– Jesus had a human form – the painter retorted. – Did he have or not?
– He had it.
– So what’s going on? Who can pose for me? Whom does Sister propose?
– If anyone has to be a must, it is probably only a priest Professor – Helenka decided. – Can I ask for it?
– Me as the model! – exclaimed the priest.
– Will Professor agree to fulfill my request? – repeated Helenka’s question with a plea in her eyes. – Okay. What do I have with my sister for the procession? There is no end to it.
– Thank you. Thank you very much. Now, please, let the professor stand where Mr. Eugeniusz points and poses.
– But in what dress was Jesus? In black? – asked the painter with a question to Helena.
– In a white robe.
– Well, the priest must also be in a white robe. Please, dress in white.
Let someone bring me an alb – the priest asked Helenka with a request. – Anyway, I’ll bring myself from the sacristy.(Visitation Sisters sacristy)
He ran like a boy. In a moment he was back. He dressed in an alb. He made a cingulum – a white rope – and stood in the designated place.
– If someone told me that I would pose in the character of the Lord Jesus while painting a picture, I would not believe it. – Is it good or bad? Helenka asked smiling. – Nice or unpleasant?
– Yes and I do. After all, I realize that I am unworthy to perform such a function. And on the other hand .. The resurrected Jesus goes. It appears to Mary Magdalene, who came to the grave to anoint him. He appears to the apostles in the Upper Room, to whom he comes through a closed door. He has nails on his arms and legs.
Helena was speaking in a low voice. The priest and the painter felt that this was a special moment. They fell silent. And she continued:
– It appears to everyone who stands in front of this picture and looks at it and repeats what is written on it: “Jesus, I trust in You”, with faith, with hope and with love.
She paused. But the silence lasted. After a moment she continued:
– Jesus is on his way. Eyes down. But he meets us. Is smiling. He stops to bless us. And with his other hand he removes the robe on his chest and from there a stream of red and white light comes out. In the image of blood and water that flowed from the side of Jesus pierced on the cross by a soldier’s spear. White stream to the right, red to the left. With the permission of her mother, she came to Kazimirowski’s studio every two weeks. It was the painter who caused it. He wanted consultations, advice, and answers to his questions.
It seemed that the picture would be completed quickly. In the meantime, it began to move. Mr. Kazimirowski resigned from the consultation. He was sick or wriggling. He left the city in family matters, or maybe he did not leave at all. Helenka was worried more and more. Finally, she asked Father Sopocko: What’s happening? Why does not Kazimirowski end?
Father Sopoćko replied with concern:
– The subject has been interrupted. He can not. He overestimated his abilities. He is not happy with what he did. It keeps improving. For me, these corrections do not bring anything better, or even worsen the previous state. I will have to tear him out of this Image and make him not sit on him forever.
And he did it. In June he told Helen that the painting was in his apartment. Helenka came, she looked – and she was devastated. Her heart sank.
“It’s not my Jesus. Unlike nor. Maybe a little, maybe a little. But where is his beauty? Where is his grace? Where is his strength, his power? Where is his charm? None of this has been left. Maybe not even anything, but very little. “Well, how do you like it? Because it seems to me that it is not.
– Mr. Eugeniusz certainly wanted the best and he did what he could. What he could afford. But it’s not only his fault if you can talk about wine here.
– And what else can be the fault if you can talk about guilt here – Father Professor joked. Apparently he wanted to unload the tense atmosphere.
– First of all, mine. I could not convey or describe Jesus as it appeared to me in Płock.
– I propose: let’s not look for guilty. Because we will not find it anyway. What happened, it will not stop. Finished image, you have to hang it somewhere.
– Of course, in the church.
– You need permission from the Archbishop’s Curia.
– Why so high? – Helenka was amazed.
– This Image is unusual. Besides, Sister Kazimirowski explained it to his sister. A special committee must be assembled and it should be decided whether it is suitable for the church.
– Then you have to take the appropriate steps.
– Do not act in a hurry. The more that I received a nomination for the rector of St. Michael’s church at the Bernardine Sisters’ Convent. When I get out there, I will start working.
Helenka, when she returned to the monastery, she hid in an empty chapel at this time and only then broke down in tears. She cried like a child in helpless despair. She was aware that the Image was a closed topic and there was no way to go back. “God, and how people will be able to pray before such an Image.” Unexpectedly, she heard the inner voice: “The size of the Image is not in the perfection of paint or brush, but in the grace of God.”
