Divine Mercy

"Divine Mercy" is the whole gospel message in two words. God, the Father, has saved the whole world through the Passion and Death of God, the Son.

"For God so loved the world ..." (Jn 3:16).

Divine Mercy Sunday

• EWTN "Feast of Divine Mercy."
• Wikipedia.

Mercy Sunday is like a magnifying glass that the Church uses to enlarge one aspect of the Easter Season. By looking through this lens, we can see that the whole of Easter is a season of Mercy. Every Sunday is a little Easter and another "Divine Mercy Sunday."

Older Nicknames

• "Low Sunday", Pascha clausum, Dominica in albis depositis (Sunday when albs worn by the neophytes were removed).
• "Thomas Sunday" from the story of Doubting Thomas in the gospel of John.
• "Quasimodo Sunday"--Wikipedia from the Introit: "Quasi modo géniti infántes, rationábile, sine dolo lac concupíscite, ut in eo crescátis in salútem." "Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Peter 2:2). A more tortured translation of "quasi modo" would be "as if in the mode of." The verse encourages newborn Christians to imitate babies who are nursing at their mother's breast.
• "Octave of Easter."

Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Preface

• Our Father
• Hail Mary
• Creed

At the beginning of each decade

"Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."

The central prayer

"For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

Conclusion

"Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

Prayer

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in 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.

Solemn Novena

In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:

"On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy ... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls."

The different souls prayed for on each day of the novena are:

During the Solemn Novena leading to Divine Mercy Sunday, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy should be offered each day for the day's intentions.

1	Good Friday	All mankind, especially sinners
2	Holy Saturday	The souls of priests and religious
3	Easter Sunday	All devout and faithful souls
4	Easter Monday	Those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do not yet know Him
5	Easter Tuesday	The souls of separated brethren
6	Easter Wednesday	The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
7	Easter Thursday	The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus' mercy
8	Easter Friday	The souls who are detained in purgatory
9	Easter Saturday	The souls who have become lukewarm "These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy."

Plenary Indulgence

Rick Paolini from "Divine Mercy in My Soul": "The grace offered on Divine Mercy Sunday is like a second baptism. It is easy to qualify for it."

In 2003, Our Holy Father, Blessed Pope John Paul the Great, "motivated by an ardent desire to foster in Christians this devotion to Divine Mercy ... [and] in the hope of offering great spiritual fruit to the faithful" granted a Plenary Indulgence to those who participate in Divine Mercy Sunday. To gain the ecclesiastical indulgence, the faithful must

• go to confession within eight days before or after the Feast
• receive Holy Communion worthily on the Feast
• offer prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father
• "be detached from affection to any sin, even venial"

There are two different rewards on Divine Mercy Sunday: The plenary indulgence instituted by the Church and the grace promised by Jesus to Sister Faustina in her Diary, which is received by reception of Communion by a person in the state of grace and who performs an act of mercy by word or by deed.

Reflections

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a priestly prayer. We make reparation not only for our own personal sins but for for the sins "of the whole world": sinful priests, sinful Catholic couples, sinful enemies of the Church, etc., etc.

Links

• Works of Mercy