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History:
Divine Mercy Sunday, also known as Mercy of God Sunday,
is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter Sunday.
Jesus Christ visited St. Faustina Kowalska and promised
to be especially merciful to those who ask for
forgiveness and take part in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation and Holy Communion. |
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Born Faustina Kowalska,
was called to religious life through a vision of the
suffering of Christ. In 1925, she joined the
Congregation of the Sisters Our lady of Divine Mercy and
took the name of Sr. Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed
Sacrament.
The years she spent in
the convent were filled with extraordinary gifts, such
as revelations, visions, hidden stigmata, participation
in the passion of the Lord, bilocation, the reading of
human souls and prophecy.
In
her visions, she was given three
main tasks: Reminding the world and
the Church of the truth in God’s
mercy; interpreting Divine Mercy for
the whole world; and initiating the
apostolic movement of Divine Mercy.
Sr. Faustina kept a diary of the
Lord’s wishes as given to her
through her visions. She died in
Krakow in 1938 but the devotion to
the Divine Mercy based on her diary
had already started. Due to the
political situations at that time
the Catholic Church was unable to
verify the inaccurate and confusing
translations of her diary entries.
For this reason, the devotion to the
Divine Mercy was banned. The Church
forbade the spreading of the Divine
Mercy message and devotion. The
Marians, however, continued to
spread the devotion to God’s mercy,
but in obedience to Rome, the
devotion was based on Sacred
Scripture, the Liturgy, the
teachings of the Church, and Our
Lady’s revelations at Fatima.
In
1958 Sr. Faustina’s prophecies
started to be fulfilled and the
messages and devotion as recorded in
the original diary were reexamined.
In 1978, with the intervention of
the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal
Karol Wojtyla, the ban was lifted
completely. Through his efforts, and
informative process relating to the
life and virtues of Sr. Faustina was
began, which led to Beatification in
1993 and canonization in 2000. |
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Prayer for the Intercession of
St. Faustina |
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St. Faustina,
You told us that your mission
Would continue after your death
And that you would not forget us.
Our Lord also granted you a great privilege,
Telling you to “distribute graces as you will,
To whom you will, and when you will.”
Relying on this,
I ask your intercession for the graces I need,
Especially
(Here mention your special intentions)
Help me, above all,
To trust in Jesus as you did
And to glorify His mercy every moment of my life. Amen. |
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The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy |
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Opening Prayer
You expired,
Jesus,
But the source of life gushed forth for souls,
And the ocean of mercy
Opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
Envelop the whole world
And empty Yourself out upon us.
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth
From the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy
for us,
I trust in you!
Begin the
chaplet with the
Our Father…,
the Hail Mary…,
and the Apostles Creed.
Then on the large bead before each decade:
Eternal Father,
I offer You the Body and Blood,
Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
I atonement for our sins
And those of the whole world.
On the ten small beads of each decade, say:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion,
Have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Conclude with:
Holy God,
Holy Mighty One,
Holy Immortal One
Have mercy on us
And on the whole world. (three times)
Closing Prayer
Eternal Father,
in whom mercy is endless,
And the treasury of compassion – inexhaustible,
Look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy on
us,
That in difficult moments we might not despair
Nor become despondent,
But with great confidence
Submit ourselves to your Holy Will,
Which is Love and Mercy itself. |
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availability of
atypical art works. Entries are
generally based on the 1926-38 edition
of Butler's Lives of the Saints, with
the length of each entry varying from
one-half page to several pages. Short
entries giving written insight into the
lives of pious individuals are combined
with depictions rendered by artists such
as Raphael and El Greco. An inexpensive
tribute to art and faith more
appropriate for gift-giving than for
libraries. |
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