Divine Mercy Sunday celebrates the love that Christ has for all of us, despite our sins that separate us from Him. Always celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, the liturgy commemorates the Divine Mercy of Christ, as revealed to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun. Saint Paul of the Cross Parish celebrates this day with a special Eucharistic Holy Hour. The Holy Hour will includes the Chaplet and Litany of Divine Mercy, and Benediction. Please consider joining the faithful of the Parish at this special celebration.  

Saint Faustina, the Origin of Divine Mercy Sunday, the Divine Mercy image, the Chaplet, and the Novena

Saint Maria Faustina was born in 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland and became a Sister of Our Lady of Mercy at the age of 16. In the 1930s, Jesus chose this Polish nun, to receive private revelations about Divine Mercy which she recorded in her Diary. St. John Paul II explains:

"This was precisely the time when those ideologies of evil, nazism and communism, were taking shape. Sister Faustina became the herald of the one message capable of off-setting the evil of those ideologies, that fact that God is mercy—the truth of the merciful Christ. And for this reason, when I was called to the See of Peter, I felt impelled to pass on those experiences of a fellow Pole that deserve a place in the treasury of the universal Church."  -Pope Saint John Paul II, Memory and Idenity (2005)

Sister Maria Faustina, consumed by tuberculosis and by innumerable sufferings which she accepted as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners, died in Krakow at the age of just 33 in 1938. At the time, she had a reputation for unique spirituality and a close relationship with God. As the reports of the holiness of her life grew, so did devotion to the Divine Mercy.

Divine Mercy Sunday: Sister Faustina's life of holiness and visions of God's Divine Mercy were declared heroic by the Church in 1992. St. Faustina’s Diary records 14 occasions when Jesus requested that a Feast of Mercy (Divine Mercy Sunday) be observed. On May 5, 2000,  after the canonization of St. Faustina, the Vatican decreed that the Second Sunday of Easter would henceforth be known as Divine Mercy Sunday.  The Diary has been translated into more than 20 languages, including, English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Castilian, Brazilian, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Swedish, Ukrainian, Dutch and Japanese.

The Image: Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina in a vision, with His right hand raised in a blessing and His left touching His garment above his heart. Red and white rays emanate from His heart, symbolizing the blood and water that was poured out for our salvation and our sanctification. The Lord requested that “Jesus, I trust in You” be inscribed under His image.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy: The Chaplet was also given to Saint Faustina with this promise: “Encourage souls to say the chaplet which I have given you” (Diary, no. 1541). “Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. … Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from my infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world know my infinite mercy” (Diary, no. 687).   (Click HERE to view)

The Divine Mercy Novena: Jesus gave St. Faustina nine intentions for which to pray the Chaplet beginning on Good Friday and ending on the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday.
"I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fountain of My mercy, that they may draw therefrom strength and refreshment and whatever grace they have need of in the hardships of life, and especially at the hour of death" (Diary, 1209).

DAY  1 (Good Friday)  - All mankind, especially sinners
DAY  2 (Holy Saturday ) - The souls of priests and religious
DAY  3 (Easter Sunday)  - All devout and faithful souls
DAY  4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe in Jesus & those who do not know Him
DAY  5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of separated brethren
DAY  6 (Easter Wednesday) - The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
DAY  7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus' mercy
DAY  8 (Easter Friday) - The souls who are detained in purgatory; 
DAY  9 (Easter Saturday) - The souls who have become lukewarm.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy should be offered each day for the day's intentions.