Sunday to Divine Mercy. Prayer and what to do today

The Sunday of Divine Mercy was instituted
by John Paul II
by decree of 5 May 2000
and is celebrated by Christ's will on the first Sunday after Easter:
- I wish - in fact Jesus said to Saint Faustina
- that the first Sunday after Easter
is the Feast of Mercy.

Jesus expressed his wish to Saint Faustina
for the first time in 1931 in Plock, Poland,
and in the following years he told her again 14 times.

That day ends the octave of Easter,
and therefore underlines the close link
between Holy Easter and the Feast of Mercy:
the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ
they are, in fact, the biggest manifestation
of Divine Mercy towards humanity.

A link that is underlined by the fact that the Festa
is preceded by a Novena that begins on Good Friday,
the day of the Passion and Death of Jesus.
The liturgy, therefore, of that Sunday is a sublime adoration of God
in the mystery of his eternal, inexhaustible mercy;
it is the adoration of that pierced Heart
from which flowed the Blood and the Water.

Jesus also confided the reason to Sister Faustina
for which He wished to institute this Feast.
He said: - Souls perish, despite my painful Passion.
I grant them the last table of salvation,
that is, the Feast of my Mercy.
If they do not adore my Mercy, they will perish forever.

In fact, that must be a day
of particular adoration of the Lord in this unfathomable Mystery.
But not only.
That is also a day of immense grace for every man,
but above all for those who still do not live in God's grace,
that is, leading an existence in mortal sin.
In fact, Jesus said to Saint Faustina:
- I wish the Feast of Mercy
both shelter and refuge for all souls
and especially for poor sinners.
That day, in fact, he still affirmed Christ:
- Who will approach the source of life,
these will achieve the total remission of sins and penalties.

What is the meaning of this so important promise?
Approaching the Sacrament of Confession
within the eight days preceding the festival,
and then to the Sacrament of Communion on the Sunday of Mercy,
total remission of sins and penalties is achieved,
or the total remission not only of temporal penalties,
(i.e. the penalties you deserve for the sins we committed)
but also of the faults themselves.

Such a particular remission
it is present only in the Sacrament of Baptism.
It is therefore an immense grace
linked to a well made Confession,
that allows us to receive worthily
the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

As expected the Apostolic Penitentiary
with Decree dated 29 June 2001,
confession is the first of the necessary conditions
to gain the plenary indulgence.
The second condition is Holy Communion on the feast day
(Communion obviously in the grace of God,
since otherwise a terrible sacrilege would be committed).
The third condition is acting
- in the presence of the SS. Sacrament,
publicly displayed or kept in the tabernacle -
of our Father, of the Creed and of an invocation to the Merciful Jesus,
for example: "Merciful Jesus, I trust in You!".
These prayers are offered to the Lord
according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.

By Christ's will, moreover, on the Sunday of Mercy
the image of Merciful Jesus must be displayed in churches,
solemnly blessed by priests and venerated,
receiving public worship:
- I demand the cult of Mercy,
with the solemn celebration of this Feast
and with the cult of the image that has been painted.
I wish this image to be solemnly blessed
the first Sunday after Easter and receiving public worship.

The following promise of Jesus is also extremely important,
transcribed by Santa Faustina in his Diary:
- To the priests who will speak and exalt my Mercy
I will give a wonderful strength,
anointing to their words and I will move the hearts to which they will speak.

An ocean of graces awaits us, therefore,
on the Sunday of Mercy:
let's grab them with our hands,
abandoning ourselves confidently in the arms of Christ,
that awaits nothing other than our return to him!

CONSECRATION OF THE WORLD TO DIVINE MERCY
John Paul II

God,

Merciful Father,

that you have revealed

your love

in your Son Jesus Christ and you poured it out on us in the Holy Spirit,

Comforter, We entrust to you today the destinies of the world and of every man.

Bend over you

we sinners,

heal ours

weakness,

defeat all evil,

does that all

inhabitants of the earth

experience the

your mercy,

so that in you,

Unique and Triune God,

always find

the source of hope.

Eternal Father,

for the painful Passion

and the Resurrection of your Son,

have mercy on us and the whole world!

Amen