Divine Mercy Sunday: The Feast Of Mercy

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday.  It is an important feast, because on that day, Our Lord has promised that those who have gone to Confession and received Holy Communion will receive not only forgiveness of their sins, but the total remission of all temporal punishment due to their sins.

In order to fully understand the tremendous blessings offered by Our Lord through the grace of Divine Mercy Sunday, it may be helpful to review the definitions of important concepts like mortal sin, venial sin, temporal punishment, Purgatory, and indulgence, so they are linked here: Sin; Mortal Sin; Temporal Punishment; Purgatory; Indulgence; How to Get An Indulgence

You can also find information about these concepts (and many more) by using Fr. John Hardon's Pocket Catholic Dictionary.  It is available online here: Pocket Catholic Dictionary

Incidentally, Fr. John Hardon, S.J. has just had his cause introduced for canonization.  Matt Abbott has a column about that here: Canonization cause commences for beloved Jesuit

Many of his works are available online here: Fr. John A Hardon, S.J. Archives

Back on topic:

The information about Divine Mercy Sunday that follows comes from Wikipedia and the Divine Mercy Sunday website:

The Feast of the Divine Mercy or Divine Mercy Sunday falls on the Octave of Easter (the Sunday immediately following Easter). It is dedicated to the devotion to the Divine Mercy promoted by St. Faustina (Faustyna Kowalska), and is based upon an entry in St. Faustina's diary stating that anyone who participates in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receives the sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist on this day is assured by Our Lord of full remission of sins, including the remission of all temporal punishment due to our sins.

According to the notebooks of Sister Faustina, Jesus made the following statements about this day:

"On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity." (Diary of Sr. Faustina, 699)

Our Lord's promise to grant complete forgiveness of sins and punishment on the Feast of Mercy is recorded three times in the Diary of Saint Faustina, each time in a slightly different way:

"I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy" (1109).

"Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (300).

"The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (699).

The devotion was celebrated unofficially in many places for some years. On April 30, 2000 (Divine Mercy Sunday of that year), Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina and designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in the General Roman Calendar, with effect from the following year. He also decreed a plenary indulgence associated with this devotion.

Pope John Paul II said he felt a closeness to Sr. Faustina when he was writing Dives in misericordia.

Pope John Paul II died during the vigil of the Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005.

How To Prepare Yourself Properly

Going to Confession is not the only way we should prepare ourselves for Divine Mercy Sunday. As Cardinal Francis Macharski, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland explains in a 1985 pastoral letter, we are not simply called to ask for God's mercy with trust. We are also called to be merciful:

"Our own merciful attitude is likewise a preparation. Without deeds of mercy our devotion would not be real. For Christ does not only reveal the mercy of God, but at the same time He places before people the demand that they conduct themselves in life with love and mercy. The Holy Father states that this requirement constitutes the very heart of the Gospel ethos (Rich in Mercy, 3) ‑ it is the commandment of love and the promise: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Mt 5:7). Let it be a mercy that is forgiving and true, and universal, with good words, deeds, and prayer for others!"

Our Lord's words to Saint Faustina about this requirement to be merciful are very strong and leave no room for misinterpretation:

"Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy ... I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it" (742).

Thus, to fittingly observe the Feast of Mercy, we should:

1.    Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter;

2.    Sincerely repent of all our sins;

3.    Place our complete trust in Jesus;

4.    Go to Confession, preferably before that Sunday;

5.    Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast;

6.    Venerate the Image of The Divine Mercy;

7.    Be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and prayers on their behalf.

(Note: To venerate a sacred image or statue simply means to perform some act or make some gesture of deep religious respect toward it because of the person whom it represents ‑ in this case, our Most Merciful Savior.)

Be sure to take advantage of God's Mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday!

Any thoughts?

Comments

[james]

Every time we go to Confession, and are honest and truly repentant for our sins, our souls are washed clean.

There's no better feeling in the world than to have a clean soul.

James

[Rita]

Thank you Thomistic for the clarification of this wonderful Feast.

[Jimbo]

This is one of those things as a Protestant that was a difficult stumbling block to overcome, but which now that I am Catholic proves to be a huge consolation.

I have often found that those things which were difficult, have proven to be the greatest sources of my consolation since: Communion of Saints, the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the power/authority of the Church to forgive sin and temporal punishment of sin.

I'll take advantage of this great grace this weekend thanks to your post. I knew about Divine Mercy Sunday, but not all the details. Thanks.

[joanne]

A beautiful feast...A powerful novena, too. If you haven't prayed this, it began on Good Friday, but you could start anytime. The reflections of Jesus as told to St Faustina will melt your heart!
Thanks for promoting the Divine Mercy Devotion.

[Bernie]

Great info on Divine Mercy thanks for shareing

http://chapletdivinemercy.excerptsofinri.com/

[spaxx]

Jimbo,

In an article titled "The Church and Her Enemies", Father Michael Mueller C.SS.R. narrates the following story:

In the history of the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in the Kingdom of Naples, is related the following story of a noble youth of Scotland, named William Ephinstone, who was a relative of the Scottish king. Born a heretic, he followed the false sect to which he belonged; but enlightened by divine grace, which showed him his errors, he went to France, where, with the assistance of a good Jesuit father, who was also a Scotchman, he at length saw the truth, abjured heresy, and became a Catholic. He went afterward to Rome, joined the Society of Jesus, in which he died a happy death. When at Rome, a friend of his found him one day very much afflicted, and weeping He asked him the cause, and the young man answered that in the night his mother had appeared to him, and said "My son, it is well for thee that thou hast entered the true Church; I am already lost, because I died in heresy. " (Saint Liguori, "Glories of Mary ").

On one of her mystical journeys, a certain saint (am sorry but I cant quite recall) was shown the soul of a heretic and that of an ordinary sinner. The soul of the heretic looked like a mirror with countless cracks from top to bottom. That of a non-heretic appeared simply as a sooty mirror. It was then explained to the mystic that whereas it is easy to restore the shine in the sooty mirror by simply wiping it clean (symbolizing wiping away of sins in the sacrament of penance), it is difficult to restore the shine in the cracked mirror because simply wiping it will not remove the cracks.

Our Lord was only illustrating the difficulty of finding grace after losing it through apostasy. But you did, however, manage to find it.

Welcome brother man. Hope this helps you buttresses your faith.

[bang]

We have just celebrated the Divine Mercy Feast... You can see some snaps here: Divine Mercy

[MNick]

If you haven't been able to go to confession prior to this feast day of Divine Mercy, how long do you have to get to confession before you will not be able to get the benefits of the Divine Mercy plenary Indulgence? Does anyone know?