Among all the elements of devotion to The Divine Mercy requested by our Lord through Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, the Feast of Mercy holds first place. The Lord’s will regarding its establishment was already made known in His first revelation to the saint, as recorded in her Diary. In all, there were 14 revelations concerning the desired feast. Our Lord’s explicit desire is that this feast be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.
Liturgically the Easter Octave has always been centered on the theme of Divine Mercy and forgiveness. Divine Mercy Sunday, therefore, points us to the merciful love of God that lies behind the whole Paschal Mystery — the whole mystery of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ — made present for us in the Eucharist. In this way, it also sums up the whole Easter Octave. As Saint John Paul II pointed out in his Regina Caeli address on Divine Mercy Sunday, 1995: “the whole octave of Easter is like a single day,” and the Octave Sunday is meant to be the day of “thanksgiving for the goodness God has shown to man in the whole Easter mystery.”
Join Saint Benedict Parish in Johnstown for the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 16th. We will pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3:00 PM followed by a reflection of the day and veneration of a First Class Relic of Saint Faustina relic from the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.
