Divine Mercy Sunday
“Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”
Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! Today is so incredibly important for Catholics and anyone who is wanting to search for mercy and forgiveness. Today is the eighth day of the Easter season, a feast of mercy that has been celebrated for a very long time. But in 1931, Jesus went to St. Faustina in a vision with a great image, and even greater words to share.
St. Faustina was a polish nun and Catholic mystic. She lived from 1905-1938 and is best known for her diary which documented visions from Jesus Christ of His Divine Mercy image. In her vision, she viewed Jesus wearing a long, white garment, with one hand on his chest, and the other hand offering a blessing. He showed Himself with red and blue light rays striking from his heart, red signifying blood and sacrifice, and white/blue signifying blessed water, mercy, and His never ending purification of souls. He told St. Faustina to write under this image,“Jesus, I trust in You.”
She decided to ask the priests in her area about why she was given this vision considering this was already a feast which was celebrated. So again, she went, and she prayed to ask Jesus for guidance on why He gave her this vision. To that, Jesus wanted her to spread the WHY we celebrate this feast day. It is because of His steadfast and ever giving mercy and forgiveness.
“On that day [Divine Mercy Sunday], the very depths of My tender mercy are opened.
I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. …
On that day, all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened.” (Diary of St. Faustina, 699)
The Divine Mercy image is praised by Catholics around the world. Although every day is another day Jesus wants to give His mercy, it is a day that the Lord specifically says,
Come to Me! Let me rush my merciful waters through your soul and cleanse you from the sins of all your days! Who wouldn’t want that?
Now, the Divine Mercy Chaplet. You can pray it in maybe 7 minutes, with any rosary beads, or even your fingers! We have ten for a reason! The Divine Mercy Chaplet was shown to St. Faustina in 1935 in a vision the Lord gave her, with specific prayers to write down and pass on for others to pray for the mercy of God for us, the sorrowful, suffering, and dying. This chaplet is meant to symbolize the remembrance of God’s mercy and healing, rather than for fear of being punished for your sins. In 2000, St. Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina and legitimized Divine Mercy Sunday.
Personal Reflection of the Divine Mercy story and image:
The Divine Mercy is especially important to me, and my mom.
My mom is an incredibly faithful woman, from whom I have been gifted my love for Catholicism and having a strong relationship with God. When discerning if I was going to be going to Franciscan University after my acceptance, my mom was in Adoration praying, asking God what to do. She heard God’s voice say to her in front of the Blessed Sacrament, “Trust, and send her to Me and I will heal her wounds.” From there, she told me I was going to Franciscan, a school over 2,000 miles away from where our family lived in Southern California. My mom learned through the Divine Mercy image, she needed to fully, completely trust in the Lord, in every situation. Something each of us should focus on more every day we live.
I am someone with a story, as are you. Mountains and valleys, if you will. When I was a senior in high school, my bible study group went to the adoration chapel to praise in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I went to the front row and started doing my thing, singing, praying, holding my hands out to receive the Spirit. Something weird happened. In this little chapel, a chapel my uncle helped build about 15 years before, there was a Divine Mercy painting towards the right. Something I previously glimpsed over, and didn’t necessarily understand. As I was worshipping, I felt a hand on each of my hands, and I felt like my voice was not MY voice. As if I was singing with the help of the Holy Spirit, or my guardian angel, something, but I wasn’t sure what. I opened my eyes to see if maybe my friends had grabbed my hands but there was no one next to me on either side. So I closed my eyes again, and there it was, as if Jesus was standing behind me, holding His daughter’s hands and helping lead me closer to Him. After a song ended, I quickly turned to see the Divine Mercy image and started to cry. Cry as if everything I had held in from my life was going to gush out. The sins of myself, and the sins of others, EVERYTHING. From this, I had an incredible desire towards the prayers of the Divine Mercy image and chaplet.
You will always be worthy of salvation. Jesus waits for you, and He is there the second you are searching for Him. No person is to far from receiving God’s Divine Mercy.
