God was preparing Lucia before the visions took place. Father Joe notes that Lucia's mother urged her to ask God to make her a saint, and Lucia made a self-offering.

Saint Bernadette was born into a loving family that lived at a mill until they fell on hard times. She was a small girl but was loved dearly and she was brought up in the faith. Learn more about her upbringing as we continue our virtual Marian pilgrimage with Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC.The beautifully photographed book "France: A Pilgrimage with Mary" is now available at ShopMercy.org

Follow Jesus in His Passion!Compiled by St. Faustina's religious community in Poland, St. Faustina's Way of the Cross combines the scriptural Stations of the Cross with passages on the Passion from the Diary of St. Faustina.Led by Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC, The Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception invite you to enter into the mystery of Christ's Passion through St. Faustina's Way of the Cross at the epic bronze Stations located at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.