Divine Mercy Sunday: Celebrating the Fullness of Easter

          Divine Mercy Sunday, observed on the octave (the eighth day) of Easter, celebrates the fullness of Christ’s resurrection, (this year on April 16th).  The solemnity comes to us through St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who kept a diary in the early 1900s of Jesus Christ’s private revelations to her on His message of mercy.

        On Feb. 22, 1931, Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska first saw a vision of Jesus with rays of mercy streaming from His Heart. Christ told her to have an image painted to represent the vision, and to write below it, "Jesus, I trust in you!"  St. Faustina also wrote in her diary that Christ encourages the faithful to trust in His mercy and turn to Him for that mercy.  St. Faustina died of tuberculosis in 1938 at age 33.  Pope John Paul II canonized her in 2000.  That same year, the pontiff declared Divine Mercy Sunday a worldwide feast day. Two years later, he instituted a plenary indulgence for those who participate in the devotion.

        To receive the graces of the plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday, the message of Christ

requests that the faithful prepare in the following ways:

  •  Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation with true repentance on or before Divine Mercy.

  •  On Divine Mercy Sunday, receive a worthy Communion and venerate the image of Divine Mercy.

  •  The faithful also are strongly encouraged to pray the novena of Divine Mercy, (beginning on Good Friday and ending on the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday); pray the Divine Mercy chaplet; be merciful toward others through words, actions and prayers.

                                                                                       Sincerely yours in Jesus,

                                                                                     Fr. John Seper