Why did the Lord appear to St. Faustina and command that the image of Divine Mercy be painted? The clue comes in an easily overlooked phrase in Faustina's dramatic description of this first major revelation recorded in the Diary. The Lord has just appeared to her, dressed in the white robe of the priesthood, with His right hand raised in blessing and His left hand holding His garment open in the area of His Heart, from which gush forth red and pale rays as an endless fountain of mercy. Faustina writes: "I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord" (Diary, 47).