The second Sunday after Easter is designated as Divine Mercy Sunday.
It originated from mystical revelations made between 1930 and 1938 to Sr Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun in the order of the Sisters of Mercy. Our Lord asked her to institute a Feast of Divine Mercy and inspired the image of the Divine Mercy (a icon depiction of which Bishop Marcus commissioned for Leeds Cathedral) and the Rosary devotion known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
Although it is traditionally prayed on Fridays at 3pm to commemorate the hour of His Crucifixion, the prayer intentions of the Chaplet may be made at any time and are to obtain mercy, to trust in Christ’s mercy, and to show mercy to others. Anything in accordance with God’s will can be obtained by reciting the prayers and Jesus promised all who recite the Chaplet at their own hour of death or in the presence of the dying will receive great mercy. In the diaries she left, St Faustina wrote that Jesus said:
‘I will stand between My Father and the dying not as the just judge but as the Merciful Saviour.’
St Faustina was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2000 and shortly afterwards the Pope decreed that the Second Sunday of Easter (or ‘Low Sunday’) would now be known as Divine Mercy Sunday and would be a time for Catholics to remember the institution of the Sacrament of Penance (Confession).
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
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