Kula Church receives relic of St. Faustina Kowalska
How a little church in Kula received a first class relic of St. Faustina Kowalska—lead by Mary Ann Turek, Fr. Antone Nyo, MS and the people of God.
Deacon Patrick Constantino | Photos: Maddie Pascual
How the prayers and blessings brought a Saint to Maui through the Divine Mercy prayer group of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church. A story of how God works. Prayer and blessings become miracles for us!
Hi Deacon Pat,
Here goes:
I have felt for a long time that the property at OLQA is a beautiful spot for the people of Maui to come for a short retreat/pilgrimage. The place is simple yet beautiful and I have always felt a great deal of peace. We have worked hard at trying to landscape for Father in the best way we can as he has built such a beautiful place for us. As I am a Marian Catechist, every year I renew my consecration either here or at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in front of our international director, Cardinal Burke. We can ask him questions and so I told him when I went there a year ago this past May every church on Maui was enthroned to Divine Mercy and could he get me a first-class relic of St. Faustina. He said he would. I felt this would be a beautiful gift to Fr. Anton after he had built our Divine Mercy Shrine and I wanted to surprise him. In September I received a letter from Rome as Cardinal told me he could not get the relic and he mailed me the protocol. When I told Father the protocol, he told me absolutely not. I felt really badly as I felt the Lord was calling us to receive this relic. I listened to Father and just kept praying. I asked Father if we could start doing the Divine Mercy Chaplet before Mass to quiet people and he agreed. Then I asked if we could start doing Divine Mercy at the Shrine at 3 p.m. on first Sundays and invite the other parishes as there was more devotion at other parishes and I hoped our parish would start participating more. He agreed to that also. Then in April of this year I asked his permission to write the bishop myself and he said I could write the bishop at any time. I immediately wrote the bishop. A month went by and I heard nothing. Then Bishop came to our Holy Ghost Feast where I was working and so I asked him if he had gotten my letter. He seemed bewildered and had mistaken my request for Waipahu and never responded to us. He told me he would get a letter out to me. I wrote a letter out for Father to sign and took pictures. The bishop’s letter came the day I was leaving to see my daughter in Florida and so I put everything in my carry on and mailed the packet out via DHL express from Florida. The Poland post office received the packet 2 days later on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It got to be August and we still had heard nothing from Poland. I asked Donna to please email Poland to make sure they had received the packet. The sister from Poland emailed us that she had notified us via email that they received the packet the first part of July and they would be reviewing it the last part of August. Then she emailed us again that the Bishop’s letter said Waipahu and not Kula. I had personally read the Bishop’s letter we sent and it did say Kula but must have gotten mixed up in Poland with Waipahu’s request. This was the end of August and I was leaving for Poland on September 5. The Bishop was on island for his anniversary and the installment of Fr. Paul at Ha‘ikū. I went to Ha‘ikū and waited until he had finished eating and then had to tell him my plight and I needed a new letter. If I said he was happy about the whole situation I would definitely be lying. The poor fella could not even relax. Anyway, he worked on it at night and got it to me the next morning. Donna emailed it to Poland and then they notified us it had to be a wet signature. By a miracle he was still on island and I got the letter. We proceeded to Poland not having any idea if we were getting the relic or not. On September 9 we visited the shrine of Our Lady of Chestochowa, where many miracles have taken place. I begged our Lady to please help us. The next morning, we received notification we were getting the relic and we met with sister and received the relic on September 12, the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. I know St. Faustina wants to be with us. I pray she will bring much healing and renewal of faith. I just think more prayer was needed to open the door to reception of the relic.
This is long winded but a beautiful journey that I have experienced. God bless.
The result of this story is that, when it was approved, Mary Ann went to Poland to hand carry St. Faustina Relic to her new home here on Maui, at Our Lady of Angels Church, Kula, Maui, Hawai‘i. On October 5, 2025 during the Feast Day of St. Faustina Kowalska, she was also enthroned at the church in Kula as the first Saint Relic to be enthroned here on Maui. Our Mass started at 3 p.m. with Msgr. Terrance Watanabe, Vicar Forane, presiding, with priest’s con-celebrating and Deacons assisting. The Divine Mercy was also recited. There were more than 400 people in attendance. Msgr. Terry and priest held the Relic so everyone could venerate and reverence the Relic. It was a spiritual moment for all of us! After everyone venerated the Relic it was brought in the church to be enthroned and displayed. Welcome to your new home St. Faustina! In every church in the Maui Vicariate is a Divine Mercy picture enthroned and there’s a prayer group in each church. The prayer groups of the Divine Mercy pray everyday at 3 p.m. or as planned by the parishes. Please call the parishes on pray times and activities they have on Divine Mercy. On visiting the Relic of St. Faustina, you need to call the church on times available to visit. Our Queen of Angels Church phone number is (808) 878-1261. Jesus, I trust in You!
Story of St. Faustina Kowalska
St. Faustina was Sister Maria Faustina Kowlska, a Polish nun and mystic who received visions of Jesus Christ in the 1930s. She is known as the Apostle of Divine Mercy for spreading the message of God’s mercy through her writing the devotion to the Divine Mercy image and the feast of Divine Mercy. St. Faustina recorded visions of Jesus and the message of God’s mercy in her diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul.” Her visions established the devotion to the Divine Mercy image and promoted practices like the Divine Mercy Chaplet and novenas. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000, who emphasized her diary as a “Gospel of Mercy” for the modern world. She began having visions of Jesus at a young age, including a suffering Christ that led her to join a convent. Later, on February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to her as the king of Divine Mercy, a vision she later depicted in the famous Divine Mercy image. Jesus instructed her to record the revelations she received, which she did in a diary titled Divine Mercy in My Soul. Her diary is a significant source for her spiritual teachings and vision of God’s boundless mercy for humanity. St. Faustina documented her mystical experiences and interactions with Jesus in her diary, known as the Diary of Saint Faustina. This diary contains accounts of spiritual graces, spiritual insights and personal miracles, serving as a testament to the power of Divine Mercy. What was the main message that Jesus told St. Faustina. Jesus told Faustina that “mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my mercy.” (Diary, No. 300) Jesus appeared to St. Faustina many times throughout her life, as detailed in her Diary, through the exact number. What is known is that she received private revelations from Jesus in the 1930s concerning His Divine Mercy, including requests to establish a feast day for Divine Mercy (Divine Mercy Sunday), have an image of the Divine Mercy painted, and spread the Divine Mercy novena. St. Faustina missions: 1) The Divine Mercy Image: The image painted under her supervision, featuring rays of red and pale light emanating from Jesus heart. 2) The feast of Divine Mercy: Jesus asked for a feast to be instituted on the first Sunday after Easter. 3) The Chaplet of Divine Mercy: A special prayer she was given to ask for God’s mercy.
Deacon Patrick Constantino retired from active Ministry on July 1, 2022. He is still a Deacon in good standing with full faculties to perform all sacraments in the Diocesan of Honolulu Hawai‘i. Constantino has been ordained for thirty-seven years. He is the first Filipino Deacon in the Diocesan of Honolulu. Prior to his ordination, Constantino was in government—first appointed in 1966 as Assistant Sergeant of Arms by the Speaker of the House Elmer F. Cravalho. When Cravalho became Maui’s first Mayor, Constantino became his Executive Assistant—the first of Filipino ancestry. Later, Constantino became the first County Treasurer of Filipino ancestry and the first County Grants Administrator and Risk Manager of Filipino ancestry. Constantino is married to his lovely wife Corazon for sixty-four years. They are blessed with four children, eleven grandchildren, and fifteen great grandchildren.