The

Message

of

Mercy Saint Faustina was a poor uneducated nun,

known as Helen Kowalska who was born on

August 25, 1905, in Poland. Her life was

marked with the stigma of suffering, and

mystical graces, with frequent conversations

with Our Lord about His mercy. Jesus said to

St. Faustina,“My daughter, be at peace; do as

I tell you. Your thoughts are united to My

thoughts, so write whatever comes to your

mind. You are the secretary of My mercy. I

have chosen you for that office in this life and

the next life. That is how I want it to be in

spite of all the opposition they will give you.

Know that my choice will not change” (From

the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska 1605).

The Feast: Jesus requested that the Sunday

after Easter be officially established in the

Church as the Feast of Divine Mercy: “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” (Diary, 699).

St. Faustina’s Diary contains at least

fourteen passages in which Our Lord is quoted

as requesting that a “Feast of Mercy” be

officially established in the Church. He

declared: “This Feast emerged from the very

depths of My mercy, and it is confirmed in the

vast depths of My tender mercies” (Diary, 420).

Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina in

the year 2000, and established the Second

Sunday of Easter to be called Divine Mercy

Sunday, a Universal Feast for the Church.

On August 3, 2002 Pope John Paul II approved

the plenary indulgence for Divine Mercy Sunday.

During his visit to Poland, on August 17, 2002, he

entrusted the world to the Divine Mercy at the

new International Basilica, which is dedicated to

Jesus under that title. On April 27, 2003, Divine

Mercy Sunday, Pope John Paul II granted a

plenary indulgence to Catholics around the world,

who will celebrate this Feast. He granted this

indulgence motivated by an ardent desire to foster

in Christians this devotion to the Divine Mercy, in

the hope of offering great spiritual fruit to the

faithful. The Holy Father has a great devotion to

the Merciful Savior as the Divine Mercy and

understands the urgency of the message and

devotion for our times. He stated “The hour has

come when the message of Divine Mercy is able

to fill hearts with hope and to become the spark

of a new civilization: the civilization of Love.”

The Image: On February 22,

1931, St. Faustina saw a vision of

Jesus with rays of mercy

streaming from the area of His

Heart.(Diary, 299). He told her to

have an image painted to represent

this vision and with the signature,

“Jesus, I trust in You!” The two

rays represent “ the Blood and

the Water , when I was pierced

b y t h e l a n c e o n t h e

cross.” (Diary, 299). The image of Jesus, the

Divine Mercy, is to have a special place of honor

on the Feast of Divine Mercy, a visual reminder of

all that Jesus did for us through His Passion,

Death, and Resurrection and a reminder too, of

what He asks of us in return— To trust Him and

be merciful to others: “I want the image to be

solemnly blessed on the first Sunday

after Easter,and I want it to be

venerated publicly so that every soul

may know about it” (Diary, 341).

Promises: In a series of revelations, Jesus

taught St. Faustina that His mercy is unlimited

and available even to the greatest sinners, and

He revealed special ways for people to respond

to His mercy. Our Lord’s promise to grant

complete forgiveness of sins and punishment on

the Feast of Divine Mercy is recorded at least

three times in the Diary. Jesus said, “The soul

that will go to Confession and receive Holy

Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of

sins and punishment” (Diary,699). Our Lord is

emphasizing, through this promise, the infinite value

of Confession and Communion as miracles of

mercy. Our Lord’s promise of complete forgiveness

is both a reminder and a call. It is a reminder that He

is truly present and truly alive in the Eucharist, filled

with love for us and waiting for us to turn to Him

with trust. And it is a call for us all to be washed

clean in His love through confession and Holy

Communion,-no matter how terrible our sins. He is

offering us a new start, a clean slate, to begin our

lives again. To really understand this promise, we

need to look at the context of the other promises

Jesus offers us for the Feast of Mercy. He is not just

promising a single grace, but unlimited graces. “On

that day all the Divine floodgates through which

grace flow are opened” (699).

His Graces: He wants us to realize that since the

Eucharist is His own Body, Blood, Soul, and

Divinity, it is the “Fountain of Life” (Diary, 300).

Many people do not really understand the

importance of receiving Holy Communion. In His

revelation to St. Faustina, Our Lord makes it clear

what He offers us in Holy Communion and how

much it hurts Him when we treat His presence with

indifference: “My great delight is to unite Myself

with souls...When I come to a human heart in

Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds

of graces which I want to give to the soul. But

souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they

leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with

other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not

recognize Love! They treat Me as a dead

object” (Diary,1385).

Feast of

Divine Mercy

Sunday

:

Jesus, I Trust in You ! Jesus said to

St. Faustina,“Whoever

approaches the Fountain of

Life on this day will be

granted complete forgiveness

of sins and punishment.”

According to the Diary of

Saint Maria Faustina, 300.

Prayers of the Divine Mercy Chaplet Recite on ordinary rosary beads (Diary 476)

OUR FATHER, HAIL MARY,APOSTLES CREED

On the “Our Father” beads before each decade say:

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and

Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly

beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in

atonement for our sins and those of the whole

world. On the “Hail Mary” beads of each decade say:

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have

mercy on us and on the whole world. After the five decades say three times:

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal

One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Plenary Indulgence: Pope John Paul II, on

April 27, 2003, decreed,“To receive the Plenary

Indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal

punishment deserved for sins” one must observe

the Feast of Mercy or Divine Mercy Sunday, and

one should:

1. Go to Confession, preferably during the week

before that Sunday.

2. Receive Holy Communion on the day of the

Feast.

3. Offer prayers for the intention for the Pope.

4. Sincerely repent of all our sins.

5. “Participate in the pious practices undertaken in

honor of the Divine Mercy, or at least recite in the

presence of the Blessed Sacrament.. The Our

Father, the Creed and a pious invocation to the

merciful Lord Jesus,” the decree said.

6. Be merciful to others, through our actions,

words, and prayers on their behalf. For more Information contact

Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy (EADM)

Canada Inc.

484 Hamilton St. Regina S4R 2A7

(306) 949-8998

eadmoleskiw@sasktel.net

eadmcanada.com

Chaplet: In 1935, the angel of wrath was

about to strike the earth, and St. Faustina heard

the words of the chaplet in her soul. She started

to recite the words of the chaplet, and saw the

helplessness of the angel. Jesus told her

“Encourage souls to say the chaplet...Whoever will

recite it will receive grateful mercy…. “My daughter,

help Me to save souls. You will go to a dying sinner,

and you will continue to recite the chaplet, and in this

way you will obtain for him trust in My mercy, for he

is already in despair”(Diary, 1797). St. Faustina

prayed the Chaplet almost constantly, especially

for the dying, and the Lord urged her to

encourage others to say it, too, promising

extraordinary graces to those who would recite

this special prayer. The Chaplet can be said at

any time, but Jesus asked St. Faustina to

particularly pause at 3:00 o’clock, the hour He

died on the cross.

The Chaplet as a Novena: Jesus also

specifically asked St. Faustina that the chaplet be

recited as a novena, especially on the nine days

before the Feast of Mercy. He asked her to bring

a different group of souls each day and immerse

them in His ocean of mercy.

Be Merciful: Our Lord’s words to St.

Faustina about the requirement to be merciful are

very strong. He said, “Yes the first Sunday

after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there

must also be acts of mercy...I demand from

you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of

love for Me. You are to show mercy to your

n e i g h b o r s a l w a y s a n d

everywhere. You must not

shrink from this or try to excuse

or absolve yourself from

it” (Diary,742).