The underlying message of the Gospel is the promise of God’s abundant love and mercy which is offered to even the worst sinners.
A special devotion and message of Divine Mercy began in the 1930s when Jesus appeared to a Polish nun who wrote about the encounters in her diary.
Jesus asked Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska to paint the now familiar image of how Jesus appeared to her and which reminds us that Jesus always comes to us asking us to place our trust in Him.
During her encounters, St. Faustina received a special prayer from Jesus that promises great graces when asking God’s mercy for us and for the whole world.
A powerful Divine Mercy novena is also prayed using this chaplet, popularly prayed for nine days and starting on Good Friday. Another special prayer is prayed at 3:00 PM, when Jesus died for us on the Cross.
Jesus also asked St. Faustina for a special feast, which was established by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday is now celebrated by the Church on the Sunday after Easter.
Recounting Jesus’ immense mercy toward sinners:
Making all of us missionaries of mercy:
“His mercy is from age to age to those who fear Him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry He has filled with good things; the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Luke 1: 50-55
The visions of a young nun:
Presenting the theme of mercy in a whole new way:
An image that brings a deeper appreciation of God’s mercy:
The truth, revealed in Christ, about God the “Father of mercies,” enables us to “see” Him as particularly close to man especially when man is suffering, when he is under threat at the very heart of his existence and dignity. And this is why, in the situation of the Church and the world today, many individuals and groups guided by a lively sense of faith are turning, I would say almost spontaneously, to the mercy of God. They are certainly being moved to do this by Christ Himself, who through His Spirit works within human hearts. For the mystery of God the “Father of mercies” revealed by Christ becomes, in the context of today’s threats to man, as it were a unique appeal addressed to the Church.
Pope John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 30 November 1980
Sources of Divine Mercy:
Words of Divine Mercy:
The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners. The angel announced to Joseph: “You shall call his name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.” The same is true of the Eucharist, the sacrament of redemption: “This is my Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1846
A call to be merciful in a merciless world:
Receiving the graces of Divine Mercy Sunday:
The devotional aspects of the message of Divine Mercy:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
What the Lord has in store:
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