Divine Mercy Sunday

The first Sunday after Easter Our Lord's Mercy grants forgiveness of all sins and punishment on Feast of Divine Mercy, Mercy Sunday, mercy for even the most hardened sinners!

It was Jesus, Himself who asked for it to be celebrated on this particular Sunday following Easter.

Jesus left all the details in a diary that He commanded Saint Faustina to write in the 1930’s. („ Divine Mercy In My Soul”) When did Jesus make this promise and how does one get it?

Our Lord strongly speaks about this to Saint Faustina: ”I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse yourself from it.” Diary, 742).

During the course of Jesus' revelations to Saint Faustina on the Divine Mercy He asked on numerous occasions that a feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and that this feast be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.

„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.” (Diary, 699)

„The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.” (Diary, 699)

„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.” (Diary, 699)

This Feast, which had already been granted to the nation of Poland and been celebrated within Vatican City, was granted to the Universal Church by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the canonization of St. Faustina on 30 April 2000.

In a decree dated 23 May 2000,the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stated that "throughout the world the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that mankind will experience in the years to come”.

These papal acts represent the highest endorsement that the Church can give to a private revelation, an act of papal infallibility proclaiming the certain sanctity of the mystic, and the granting of a universal feast, as requested by Our Lord to St. Faustina.

Divine Mercy Novena Jesus further asked that this Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena of Chaplets to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. Chaplets Say one chaplet each day following the novena intention.

The Hour of Great Mercy Jesus asked Saint Faustina, and through her us, to celebrate this Hour of Great Mercy, promising tremendous graces to those who would, both for themselves and on behalf of others.

„At three o'clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy... In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion.” (Diary, 1320).

Jesus commissioned St. Faustina to have a special image painted. He wanted the world to know His mercy through this image. "In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand [was] raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord; my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy. After a while, Jesus said to me,

„Paint an image according to the pattern you see with the signature: Jesus, I trust in you. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world.” (Diary, 47) "I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature; 'Jesus, I trust in You" (Diary,327)

In the beginning of 1934, in Vilnius, Father Sopocko, who was the principal spiritual director and confessor of St. Faustina, entrusted painting of the image of Merciful Jesus to artist painter Eugeniusz Kazimirowski who resided in the same building. Since then, sister Faustina visited the painter’s studio to give some instructions and tell the artist about details of the image.

Father Sopocko did his best to make the image painted precisely following her instructions. He adjusted the canvas on which he asked the image of Merciful Jesus to be painted, to the size of the old frame donated earlier by one of parishioners. When the painting was ready to be displayed (June 1934) (see Memories), he requested sister Faustina to ask Lord Jesus about how to inscribe it.Memories

„The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.” (Diary, 299)

„I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory. (Diary, 48)

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Useful links: Music: Secret Garden „Grace” pps A..a