On Divine Mercy Sunday

In 1931 a Sr. Faustina Kowalska of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy received apparitions of the Lord Jesus. According to her diary, an image of the Risen Lord was revealed to her. From his heart shone two rays, one red (representing blood) and the other “pale” (symbolizing water), beneath of which were the words “Jesus, I trust in you.” Jesus told her, “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish.”

At Sr. Faustina’s canonization in 2000, Pope John Paul II, proclaimed that the Second Sunday of Easter would also be known as Divine Mercy Sunday, thus promoting the devotional practices associated with Faustina’s visions.

St. Faustina’s diary entries focus on God’s mercy, the call to accept God’s mercy, to be merciful, the need for conversion, and the call to trust in Jesus. It had been Jesus’ own wish, she wrote, to establish a feast day: “I [Jesus] desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls. . . . I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy.”

Among the practices connected to the devotion are its Novena, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, the Hour of Great Mercy (traditionally celebrated at 3 p.m.), and the plenary indulgence granted to those who make a Sacramental Confession and receive Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Divine Mercy Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on how God’s mercy can overcome sin and as a recurrent invitation to face, with confidence in divine goodness, the difficulties and trials to come.
Edited:  May 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 76, No. 5, page 46)
 

On the Second Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy, established by St. John Paul II in 2000.

The feast has its origin in the revelations of Our Lord to St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) during which He asked that a Feast of Divine Mercy be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. The Gospel for that day is that of the institution of the Sacrament of Penance which the Risen Lord entrusted to his apostles on Easter Sunday—an appropriate account that emphasizes the abounding mercy of the Lord for those who approach Him with humble and contrite hearts.

In her diary St. Faustina recorded the Lord’s message: “My daughter, tell the whole world about My Inconceivable Mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy . . . The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” (Diary 699)

If you would like to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet given to Sr. Faustina by Jesus, you can find the prayers under Worship & Litury > Prayers on this website.