The Divine Mercy
THE DIVINE MERCY
TRADITIONALLY THE First Friday of the month was consecrated to the Sacred Heart. The object of this devotion was to make Our Lord Jesus ardently and perfectly loved
The message and devotion to Jesus as the Divine Mercy is based on the writings of St. Faustina Kawalska, an uneducated Polish nun, who in obedience to her superiors wrote a diary. In this she recorded the revelations she received about God’s mercy. In 1931 Our Lord appeared to Sr. Faustina The image hanging in the porch is a replica of the vision described by ST. Faustina She tells us that Christ told her that
“ The 2 rays denote the blood and water flowing from my side. The pale ray stands for the water which makes souls righteous; the red for the blood which is the life of souls” In other words the rays represent the Sacraments, the Church, born of the pierced side of Christ as well as the gifts of the Holy Spirit
Although she died of tuberculosis in 1938 Sr Faustina was Christ’s instrument of comfort, hope and encouragement to Europe. Devotion to the Divine Mercy had began to spread rapidly through Poland into the horrendous prison camps of Poland and Germany. Refugees after the war then took this devotion throughout the world.
Church authorities for a while prohibited devotion to the Divine Mercy and it was not until 1978 that the forms of devotion revealed to Sr. Faustina were permitted again. Six months after devotion was permitted John Paul 11(called “the apostle of mercy” by Vatican sources,) was elected Pope In 1981, at the shrine of Merciful Love, in Rome, Pope John Paul 11 encouraged devotion to the Divine Mercy
The devotion revealed to Sr. Faustina differs from other devotions in that it includes the need of practicing mercy towards one’s neighbors daily, by word, deed, o0r prayer the image Our Lord ordered Sr. Faustina to have painted is “to be a reminder of My demands for mercy Even the strongest faith is of no avail without works of mercy”
For this reason the recitation of the chaplet of Divine Mercy is followed by saying aloud the prayers and petitions placed at the side of Our Lady’s altar throughout the previous month
The message of Divine Mercy is that God loves all of us. He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins so that we will call on Him with trust; receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others so that all will share in His Joy
It is a message as easy as A. B. C
A Ask for His Mercy
B Be merciful
C Completely trust in Jesus - The more we trust the more we will receive
Join us on the first Friday of the month at 12md for Mass and Divine Mercy devotion