Divine Mercy Sunday
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday and a time for celebration and to perform acts of mercy. Our parish will have a holy hour this afternoon. If you aren’t familiar with Divine Mercy prayers you can find the daily chaplet and the novena on any of several websites. Here are a couple of links for you: Chaplet (daily) and Novena. To get a full understanding of Divine Mercy I would encourage you to read the “Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul.” You can also find the Vatican’s Decree on Divine Mercy here. The image here is one created by Sister Faustina and that we venerate in our celebration today.
Here is a description of why today is called Divine Mercy Sunday taken from DivineMercySunday.com.
During the Mass of canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II proclaimed: “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” The readings on that Sunday are always about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins.
There has been much confusion as to how this feast is to be celebrated. To know how to celebrate the Feast, one must only look at the two decrees that were issued by the Holy See and the words of Our Lord in the diary of St. Faustina, which the Church has accepted, as reliable and worthy of belief. The first decree which established the Feast states that the normal readings for that Sunday are always to be used. They are already perfect as they are and reflect what the Image of Divine Mercy portrays.
The second decree is for the plenary indulgence for Divine Mercy Sunday that was issued on June 29, 2002. This decree also states what the specific duties of Priests are to be: inform the parishioners, hear confessions, and lead the prayers. The indulgence decree also asks Priests to gently encourage the Faithful to practice works of charity or mercy as often as they can, following the example of Christ.
The words of Our Lord in the diary are very clear, He said, “I want the image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. By means of the Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it.” (Diary 341, 570) The Image should be placed in the church so that everyone can see it, perhaps in the sanctuary area and at all the masses on that day so that everyone may venerate and know about it.