This Sunday, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. The Feast of the Divine Mercy, as it is also known, is celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, which concludes the Octave of Easter.
In the 1930s, Jesus chose a humble Polish nun, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, to receive private revelations requesting a feast celebrating his mercy. He asked that the Feast of Mercy be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter and include a public blessing and liturgical veneration of His image with the inscription “Jesus, I trust in You.”
This promise of mercy has been affirmed by the Church, which has made Divine Mercy Sunday an occasion for receiving a plenary indulgence, which is “the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven” (CCC, no. 1471). The plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the usual conditions (Confession, Eucharist, prayer for the intentions of the pope, and complete detachment from sin, even venial sin). The faithful may either take part in the prayers and devotions held in honor of Divine Mercy in any church or chapel or recite the Our Father and Creed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus.
For the Eucharistic Holy Hour for Divine Mercy Sunday or more information, click here.