Sister Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a Sister of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Divine Mercy in Poland, is said to have been personally visited by Jesus. An image was revealed to her of the risen Lord, from whose heart shone two rays, one red ray that represented blood, and one pale ray that symbolized water. At the bottom of this image of Divine Mercy she was instructed to put these words: “Jesus, I trust in you.” Sister Faustina wrote in her diary that Jesus told her, “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish.”
When Sister Faustina was canonized in 2000 under Pope John Paul II, like Sister Faustina, also a native of the country of Poland, the Pope proclaimed that the Second Sunday of Easter would henceforth be known as Divine Mercy Sunday. The devotional practices associated with these visions, including the Divine Mercy chaplet and the image of Divine Mercy, which were already very popular in many communities, became even more popular throughout the world.
St. Faustina kept a 600-page diary of the apparitions she claimed continued for years. Her entries focus on God’s mercy, the call to accept God’s mercy and to be merciful, the need for conversion, and the call for us to trust in Jesus. In her diary, St Faustina writes of Jesus’ own wish to establish a feast day: “I [Jesus] desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls. . . . I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the feast of My Mercy.” By declaring a Year of Mercy to be celebrated in the Catholic Church in 2016, Pope Francis also brought to the attention of all believers the divine Mercy of Jesus.
Divine Mercy Sunday is a wonderful addition to the holy season of Easter and our celebration of the risen Lord. Blessings to all of you on Divine Mercy Sunday. Father Lincoln.
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