Divine mercy sunday

The Feast of the Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy Sunday is the culmination of the novena to the Divine Mercy of Jesus, a devotion given to St. Faustina (Maria Faustina Kowalska) and is based upon an entry in her diary stating that anyone who participates in the Mass and receives the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist on this day is assured by Jesus of full remission of their sins and punishments. The devotion was actively promoted by Pope John Paul II, who canonized St. Faustina and designated the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschae seu de divina misericordia) in the General Roman Calendar.[citation needed] John Paul II, who died in April 2005 on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, was be beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, 2011, by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

The Second Sunday of Easter has been designated by the Church as the Feast of Mercy. According to Saint Faustina, Jesus Himself, in many instances, had requested that people honor the Divine Mercy on the Sunday after Easter.

This Feast, which initially was granted to the Catholic faithful of Poland and celebrated in Vatican City at the express desire of the late Pope John Paul II, was granted by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the canonization of Sr. Faustina on April 30 in the Great Jubilee Year 2000. In his homily, Pope John Paul II said: “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which, from now on throughout the Church, will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stated in its decree following the canonization and announcement of the observance of the Feast of Mercy that “throughout the world the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that mankind will experience in the years to come.

Today on this Divine Mercy Sunday the Mass for the Beatification of Venerable Pope John Paul II will begin at 10:00 a.m. It is truly a sacred moment for which the world has long yearned. During the Rite of Beatification, Pope Benedict XVI will raise to the Altar his beloved friend and predecessor, a truly extraordinary Pope whom the entire world knew and loved, and whose memory will remain infused within us all with deep tenderness and veneration for all ages to come.

The Mass will be preceded by a gathering of the faithful to recite the Devotion of Divine Mercy, a prayer in which we offer to the Father the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of his dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and the sins of the whole world. In reciting this profound prayer, we are spiritually united with the Paschal Mystery of our Savior who so unreservedly gave of himself for our sake.