Stairway to Heavenz
Saints:
Date: 4/19/2009
From:
Jeff Geerling 
Divine Mercy Sunday. Ur doin it rite!
The image above is an early artist's rendering of the Statue of the Divine Mercy in Divine Mercy Hills, in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental Philippines. It's quite a large statue, and attracts many, many pilgrims, who want to truly see the 'heart of Jesus' - and heck, there's even a staircase to that heart!
Saint Faustina Kowalska was blessed with revelations about God's mercy which were written down in the early 20th century, and which reverberate through the world today. Pope John Paul II highly commended this wonderful devotion (to the Divine Mercy), and promoted the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
The basic message is this: Jesus loves every single one of us, no matter how badly we have damaged our relationship with him. He so desires us to love him back that his heart burns with the fire of mercy. If we trust in him, he will give us all the mercy we need to be with him forever. Thus the inscription, "Jesus, I trust in You!"
Read more about the Divine Mercy Devotion on EWTN's website.
Jeff:
Just took a look at the link you provided.
It appears that this statue is not planned for Central America; rather, for a place called El Salvador on the island of Mindanao in the Phillipines.
Either way, it's quite a complex.
Whoops! I noticed the words 'El Salvador,' and immediately thought it was referring to the country. Duly noted, and fixed.
That's incredible. I'm not sure if it's tackier than it's inspirational or more inspirational than tacky. I'm in awe, but I don't think I would make a pilgrimage there.
If you haven't read St. Faustina's diary, I highly recommend it. I was afraid it would be a difficult read, being a translation and all, but I found it very readable and quite delightful. She's yet another saint who died at the same age as our Lord.
w/r/t Berni's post above. You can order the Diary (my favorite translation) here: http://www.faustina.org/pages/diary.htm
Ohh, it's tacky alright.