Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday
Nearly twenty-four years ago, during the Mass at which Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska was canonized, Pope St. John Paul II decreed that today, the Octave Day of Easter, should be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Faustina’s mystical visions had given the Church the “Chaplet of Divine Mercy,” a special mode of prayer. St. John Paul believed that the message Our Lord conveyed to this simple Polish nun was a providential gift to a world badly in need of mercy, a gift that would allow us to celebrate Easter more intensely.

The consoling message of the Jesus—the Divine Mercy—is addressed above all to those suffering under a harsh trial or crushed by the burden of sin, who have lost confidence in life, and are tempted to despair. Today’s feast seeks to show them the gentle, merciful face of Christ.