Divine Mercy Sunday is a feast day celebrated on the Sunday after Easter, the Octave (eighth day) of Easter. It is based on the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy that St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish sister, reported as part of her almost eight years of encounters with Jesus. 

 

In that series of revelations to St. Faustina in the 1930s, Jesus called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. The feast day was named Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope St. John Paul II at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000.

 

Chaplet Instructions   Begin with the Sign of the Cross, followed by an Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostles’ Creed.   On the rosary’s Our Father beads pray: “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.”   On the rosary’s Hail Mary beads pray: “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”   After five decades, the concluding doxology is said three times: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”   End with the Sign of the Cross.   There are other optional prayers also.

Christ revealed the Divine Mercy Novena and asked Sister Faustina to pray it for nine days, beginning on Good Friday. That meant that the novena ended on the Saturday after Easter — the eve of the Octave of Easter. Thus, since novenas are commonly prayed in advance of a feast, the Feast of Divine Mercy — Divine Mercy Sunday — was born.

 

In her diary (entry 699), Jesus told her: “I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open … The soul that will go to confession and receive holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment …” The sacrament of confession does not have to be on Divine Mercy Sunday but sometime in the days before the feasts of Easter or Divine Mercy.

 

She also noted in her diary (entry 742) that Jesus told her, “Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy …”  He also (entry 1578) said, “The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive …”

 

Prayers of Divine Mercy

 

The 3:00 p.m. hour is the hour that recalls Jesus’ death of the cross. Jesus called it “the Hour of Great Mercy” (1320), telling Faustina, “In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world — mercy triumphed over justice” (1572).

 

He recommended making the Stations of the Cross at that hour, or adoration, or to “immerse yourself in prayer there where you happen to be, if only for a brief instant” (1572).

 

In 1935, St. Faustina was given the main prayer of what is called the Divine Mercy Chaplet when she tried to pray for a certain city that she saw was about to be justifiably chastised by an angel of God. She saw that with the prayer, the angel became helpless and could not carry out the deserved punishment (474).