Divine Mercy

The Divine Mercy is God’s forgiving, compassionate and tender love freely given to us through Jesus’ death on the Cross. God’s Merciful Love is far greater than all of our sins. It is essential that we turn with complete trust to Jesus. God invites us to open our hearts, ask for forgiveness, receive His Merciful Love and then, to forgive and show mercy to others. Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “My heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners…[I]t is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 367). For more information about Divine Mercy: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/ and, http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/

In the 1930’s, Sister Faustina Kowalska, a young nun and mystic, received many messages from Jesus, instructing her about God’s great mercy for her, for all souls and for the world. Jesus asked Sr. Faustina to become His secretary of Mercy. With limited education and amazing grace, Sr. Faustina wrote the Diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” and lived as an apostle of Mercy. She died in Poland at the age of thirty three. For more information about St. Faustina: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/stfaustina/ and the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy: http://www.sisterfaustina.org/

Karol Józef Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. Although Karol was exceptionally gifted, he suffered through many trials before and after his ordination to the priesthood. Karol Cardinal Wojtyla paved the way for the inauguration of Sr. Faustina’s Beatification Cause in 1968. On October 16, 1978, he was elected pope, taking the name John Paul II. Throughout his Pontificate, John Paul II proclaimed God’s Mercy throughout the world. During his last visit to Poland in 2002, he entrusted the whole world to The Divine Mercy. Pope John Paul II died on the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 2, 2005. For Vatican information on John Paul II: http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en.html

For Homily of entrustment of whole world to Divine Mercy: http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20020817_shrine-divine-mercy.html 

In 1980, Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical entitled, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy). As Pope John Paul II was recovering from an assassination attempt on his life in 1981, he had read to him, the Diary of Saint Faustina, and later, he formally forgave his assassin. On April 18, 1993, he beatified Sr. Faustina Kowalska. During the Great Jubilee Year of the Incarnation, Pope John Paul II canonized her as the Saint of the New Millennium, on April 30, 2000. During his homily that day, Pope John Paul II declared, “And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of Divine Mercy. Help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred, and opening individuals and nations to the practice of brotherhood. Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the Risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope: Christ Jesus, I trust in You! Jezu, ufam tobie!” For complete John Paul II homily: http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000430_faustina.html 

For John Paul II encyclical entitled, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy): http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia.html

For more information: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/johnpaul/

The Divine Mercy Image. The sacred Image of the Divine Mercy of Jesus with the inscription, “Jesus, I Trust in You” is a special vessel for souls to come to the fountain of God’s Mercy. Jesus told St. Faustina, “I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You,” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 327). For more information about the Image: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image.php and, http://www.sisterfaustina.org/content/devotion-divine-mercy

Jesus dictated the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy to Sr. Faustina. He taught her that in this prayer, we offer to God the Father, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ sacrificed on the Cross for the salvation of the world. As we pray the words of this Chaplet, we unite ourselves with Jesus and ask for mercy for ourselves and for the whole world. In this way, and with trust in Jesus, we may obtain unfathomable graces through this act of love for our neighbor. Jesus told St. Faustina, “Say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death… I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My Mercy…Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 687, 1731). For more information about the history and how to pray the Chaplet:

http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/chaplet.php

Jesus asked Sr. Faustina to meditate on His passion and death on the cross each day at the three o’ clock hour, even if only for a moment. Jesus instructed, “At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world… In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1320). “As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1572). For more information: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/hour.php

Divine Mercy Sunday is a Solemn Feast of God’s Mercy for the entire Church celebrated on the eighth day of the Octave of Easter (the second Sunday of Easter). On this day, God pours out, from the depths of His tender mercies, extraordinary graces upon souls who approach the Fountain of His Mercy. Jesus told St. Faustina, "I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners… The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity" (Diary of Saint Faustina, 699). For more information about Divine Mercy Sunday: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/celebrate/greatgrace/dms.php

Although this Novena can be prayed anytime, Jesus dictated to Sr. Faustina the intentions of the Novena to The Divine Mercy on Good Friday as a special preparation for the Feast of Mercy. Jesus asked her to immerse souls into the ocean of His Mercy, begging the Father each day for special graces for them. Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fountain of My mercy, that they may draw therefrom strength and refreshment and whatever grace they need in the hardships of life, and especially at the hour of death. On each day you will bring to My Heart a different group of souls, and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy, and I will bring all these souls into the house of My Father…I will deny nothing to any soul whom you will bring to the fount of My mercy” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1209). For more information about this Novena: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/novena.php

A= Ask for Mercy. God yearns for us to repent of our sins and to ask Jesus for Mercy for ourselves and for the whole world (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1146, 1541, 570).

B= Be Merciful. God desires for us to receive His Merciful Love, and then, to be merciful by loving and forgiving others in deed, word and prayer (Diary of Saint Faustina, 742, 163).

C= Completely Trust. God asks us to completely Trust in His Merciful Love. The more we open our hearts and trust in His Mercy, the more graces we will receive (Diary of Saint Faustina, 294, 453, 687, 1074, 1777).

For more information about the ABC’s: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/

For Divine Mercy education and materials: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/divine-mercy-matters/episode.php?episode=1

Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “My daughter… I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1074). “The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1578).

Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy (7) souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1602).

Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, that is – trust” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1578).

Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “My daughter… I demand from you deeds of mercy which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere… I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first – by deed, the second – by word, the third – by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 742).

Jesus instructed Sr. Faustina, “At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the pardon is the same. When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God’s anger is placated, unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very depths of My tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful Passion of My Son” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 811).

The Divine Mercy app gives you insightful access to The Divine Mercy message and devotion. For your FREE Divine Mercy App for Android or iOS devises, please go to: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/app/

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy is located on Eden Hill in the heart of the Berkshire Hills in Stockbridge, MA. The scenic grounds, candle shrines, statues, Stations of the Cross, and Shrine offer pilgrims many opportunities for peace and prayer. Thousands visit yearly for personal and group retreats. Each day in the Shrine, Holy Mass, confession and the 3 o'clock Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is celebrated along with adoration of Blessed Sacrament. For more information about the National Shrine: http://www.marian.org/shrine/about.php

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy offers online shopping to obtain a variety of Divine Mercy items, religious articles and gifts: https://www.divinemercygiftshop.org/