Sins can be forgiven on Divine Mercy Sunday

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Jan Bednarz holds an image of Jesus with his rays of mercy for the world, which Saint Faustina Kowalska of Poland saw in a vision and had painted. IC photo/Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — Divine Mercy Sunday will be celebrated April 15 in the Diocese of Salt Lake City at Saint Martin de Porres Parish in Taylorsville, Saint Francis Xavier in Kearns, Saint James the Just Parish in Ogden and Saint Mary Parish in West Haven.

"In 1935, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska of Poland, received a vision of the Lord Jesus, who told her to paint the image she saw," said Father Jan Bednarz, pastor of St. Martin de Porres Parish. "In 1934, the image of Divine Mercy was painted by an artist in Poland. In 1935, St. Faustina received another vision and began to pray for mercy, but her prayers were powerless. The next day as she entered the chapel, where she was a sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, she heard an interior voice instructing her how to recite the prayer that our Lord later called the Divine Mercy chaplet."

Faustina’s confessor, Father Michael Sopocko, who supported her devotion to Divine Mercy, used the image to celebrate the first Mass on the first Sunday after Easter. Faustina predicted that her work would be suppressed for some time and then accepted again. Two decades after her death in 1938, the Divine Mercy devotion was banned by the Vatican, but reinstated in 1978 when she was declared the first saint of the 21st century in April 2000. Her remains rest at the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy in Krakow-Lagiewniki."

"On the Second Sunday of Easter of the Jubilee Year 2000, at the Mass for the Canonization of St. Faustina, Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world that ‘from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday,’" Fr. Bednarz said.

The celebration at Saint Martin de Porres Parish will begin at 3 p.m.

"We will also pray the Litany of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Scriptural Rosary for Pope Benedict XVI, our bishop, priests, seminarians and for an increase in vocations," said Fr. Bednarz. "We pray the Divine Mercy chaplet for the world not only for our parish."

The Divine Mercy Sunday celebration at Saint James the Just Parish will begin at 2 p.m. with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before the Divine Mercy chaplet is sung at 3 p.m.

The Immaculata pro-life ministry at Saint Mary Parish will sponsor a Holy Hour for Mercy at Saint Mary Parish beginning at 1 p.m.

"We will incorporate some reflections from Saint Faustina’s diary on our Lord’s mercy as well as pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy," said Donna Masek, Immaculata pro-life coordinator.

The Divine Mercy chaplet will be sung at Saint Francis Xavier Parish at 3:30 p.m. in five languages: English, Spanish, Tagalog, Samoan and Portuguese.

The chaplet is prayed on rosary beads and is an intercessory prayer that extends the offering of the Eucharist, Fr. Bednarz said. "It can be prayed at any time, but our Lord specifically told St. Faustina to recite it during the nine days before the Feast of Divine Mercy. It is likewise appropriate to pray the chaplet during the Hour of Great Mercy at 3 p.m., recalling the time of Christ’s death on the cross.

"St. Faustina also recorded in her diary that those who pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy Sunday will receive a dispensation," Fr. Bednarz continued. "Contained in reciting the chaplet are the graces of complete pardon of sins and punishment to the souls that go to confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of Divine Mercy. St. Faustina said, ‘Jesus desires that the feast be a refuge and shelter for all souls, especially for poor sinners. On Divine Mercy Sunday, the very depths of Jesus’ tender mercy are open.’"