What is Divine Mercy Sunday?

have been offered by the Blood of Jesus. It springs from the apparitions given to Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a sister of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.
St. Faustina, a poorly educated daughter of a humble Polish family, kept a 600-page diary of the apparitions she claimed continued for years. Her entries focus on God’s mercy, the call for us to accept His mercy and to be merciful to others ourselves, the need for conversion and the call to trust in Jesus. It had been Jesus’ own wish, she wrote, to establish a feast day: “I [Jesus] desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls. . . . I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy.”

In the image commonly associated with the Divine Mercy (such as the one that opened this article), Jesus is shown as raising his right hand in blessing, and pointing with his left hand on his chest from which flow forth two rays: one red and one white with the message "Jesus, I trust in You!" (in Polish: Jezu ufam Tobie). The rays streaming out have symbolic meaning: red for the blood of Jesus (which is the Life of Souls), and white for the water (which justify souls). The whole image is symbolic of charity, forgiveness and love of God and is referred as the "Fountain of Mercy". According to the diary of St Faustina, the image is based on her 1931 vision of Jesus.
Historically, the Second Sunday of Easter was known as Low Sunday in contrast to the "high" Easter Sunday immediately preceding, it is the last day of the Easter Octave and has the account of “Doubting Thomas” read during Mass. This particular Gospel is often said to remind us of the need to enter into Jesus’ heart to be washed clean through his mercy.

The celebration of Divine Mercy, often incorporating opportunities to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, provides a chance to reflect on how God’s mercy can overcome sin and, as the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments states, is “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.” (Decree instituting Divine Mercy Sunday, May 23, 2000)
When instituting the day, the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See promulgated a decree creating an indulgence that may be gained by the faithful in connection with the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday. This decree grants a plenary indulgence to those who comply with all the conditions established, and a partial indulgence to those who incompletely fulfill the conditions.

Here at Visitation, we will have the Devotion to the Divine Mercy immediately following the Sunday 12:30 Mass. At the end of Mass the celebrant will expose the Blessed Sacrament following the Prayer After Communion. All will depart the church in silence.
From 1:30-2:45PM opportunity for Confessions will be available during Adoration.
At 3PM the Divine Mercy devotion will be prayed, followed by Benediction and Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament.