Divine Mercy Sunday is tomorrow

Earlier in the week I mentioned that tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday. "Quasimodo Sunday," is another name, or “low Sunday.” I said I would say more about Divine Mercy and first I really should say something about Sister Faustina of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (in Poland). In the early 1900’s, Our Lord gave many great mystical graces to her.

The message of mercy that Sister Faustina received is now being spread throughout the world; she has been recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a "Saint" and her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, has become the handbook for devotion to The Divine Mercy. She would not have been surprised, for she had been told that the message of God's mercy would spread through her writings for the great benefit of souls. Through Saint Faustina, we are told that Jesus also revealed special ways to live out the response to His mercy–one of which is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, as both a novena and a prayer for the three o'clock hour–the hour of His death.

Divine Mercy Sunday was instituted in the Church on the Second Sunday of Easter on April 30, 2000 and decreed on May 5th of same year. Since then, there have been many questions as to the requirements of a correct celebration of this Feast of Mercy. First and foremost, we must realize that it is a refuge for sinners and not a party for devotees. Up until the establishment of the feast in the universal Catholic Church, parishes in many parts of the world had to make separate Masses as to not “interfere” with the flow of regular Sunday Masses.

Now, as most of you know, I am an Episcopalian, not a Roman Catholic. This may be hard for some of you to believe because I have posted the past two days about a Roman Catholic priest named Father Leo. I don’t think though that everything done in the Roman Catholic church is for them and them alone. Tomorrow I will post here for you the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. It is very beautiful. My mother frequently prayers it in front of her television with the congregation in another city. How wonderful!

So my friends, now you know a little more about Divine Mercy Sunday. Please remember that it is also the Second Sunday of Easter! Alleluia!