What is Divine Mercy Sunday?

The institution

Divine Mercy Sunday was added to the universal Catholic calendar by Pope Saint John Paul II at the Mass of the canonization of Saint Faustina Kowalska on April 30, 2000. The decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Misericors et miserator (May 5, 2000), implemented the papal decision and instituted the feast on the Second Sunday of Easter, the closing day of the Octave of Easter.¹

The feast was added in fulfillment of the request of Christ that Saint Faustina recorded in her Diary. Christ reportedly said to her: "I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy."²

The Octave of Easter and the Gospel of the day

The Second Sunday of Easter falls on the eighth day of the Octave of Easter. The Octave is the eight days from Easter Sunday through this Sunday, which in the Catholic liturgical reckoning are celebrated as one continuous solemnity.

The Gospel reading of the Second Sunday of Easter is John 20:19-31, the appearance of the Risen Christ to the apostles in the Upper Room (Christ shows them the wounds in his hands and his side; eight days later he appears again with Saint Thomas present, who confesses "My Lord and my God"). This Gospel was the historical reading of the Second Sunday of Easter in the lectionary cycle long before the establishment of Divine Mercy Sunday; it provides the direct scriptural foundation for the feast: Christ shows his wounds, the visible signs of his mercy poured out for sinners.

The plenary indulgence

A special plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful on Divine Mercy Sunday, under conditions specified by the Indulgentiarum Doctrina and the decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary (June 29, 2002). The conditions are:

• Sacramental confession (within several days before or after).
• Eucharistic Communion on the day of the feast.
• Prayer for the intentions of the Pope.
• Detachment from all sin, even venial.
• Devout participation in a public celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday or, alternatively, the recitation in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (exposed or reserved in the tabernacle) of the Our Father and the Creed, with a pious invocation of the Lord Jesus Merciful.

This is in addition to the standard conditions for any plenary indulgence.

The Divine Mercy Novena

The Divine Mercy Novena, revealed to Saint Faustina, is prayed in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday. It begins on Good Friday (the day of the Crucifixion) and concludes on the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday. Each of the nine days has a specific group of souls for whom the petitioner prays. See the Divine Mercy Novena.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet

Closely associated with Divine Mercy Sunday is the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a brief prayer (approximately seven minutes) prayed on rosary beads. Christ revealed the chaplet to Saint Faustina; it consists of an Our Father, a Hail Mary, the Apostles' Creed, and then a repeated invocation on each bead: "For the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

Saint Faustina Kowalska

Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) was a Polish religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She received private revelations of the Lord's mercy, which she recorded in her Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 1959, had placed restrictions on the public dissemination of her writings; in 1978, the Holy See lifted the restrictions following further investigation. Saint Faustina was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II on April 18, 1993, and canonized on April 30, 2000.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Congregation for Divine Worship, decree Misericors et miserator (May 5, 2000), instituting the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in the universal calendar. ↩

2. Saint Faustina Kowalska, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, n. 699. ↩