Divine Mercy Divine Mercy Sunday 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.  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.

„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:

http://www.divinemercysunday.com/http://www.divinemercysunday.com/chaplet.htmhttp://www.divinemercysunday.com/novena.htmhttp://www.ainglkiss.com/mc/mn.htmhttp://www.faustina-message.com/informacje_ang.htmhttp://our.homewithgod.com/divinemercy/http://www.faustina.org/pages/xfeast.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Mercy_(painting)

Music: Secret Garden „Grace”

pps A..a