Divine Mercy Sunday

Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a Feast Day formally established by Pope St. John Paul II. According to private revelations that she recorded in her diary, St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, reported that Jesus had appeared to her on several occasions. He called for a Feast of Mercy to be observed on the Second Sunday of Easter and said that this Feast of Mercy would be a very special day when “all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened” (St. Faustina’s Diary, 699). Our Lord made a great promise to all those souls who would go to Confession and then receive Him in Holy Communion on the Feast of His Mercy, now called Divine Mercy Sunday, throughout the Catholic Church. Jesus promised that “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.” (St. Faustina’s Diary, 699)

An artist’s representation of the image of The Divine Mercy is on display in the East transcept of our church. Pope St. John Paul II said that the image portrays the Risen Jesus Christ bringing Mercy to the whole world. Our Lord said to Sr. Faustina: “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. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish”. (St. Faustina’s Diary 341, 48)

Our Lord said to St. Faustina: “When you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul…” and “Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you.”