Divine Mercy Sunday

The Church celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday on May 1st this year. Visit the Divine Mercy Apostolate for more information on year-round devotion to the Divine Mercy.

Divine Mercy Sunday is the title of the Second Sunday of the Easter season. It was named by Pope John Paul II at the canonization of St. Maria Faustina on April 30, 2000, and then officially decreed by the Vatican.

Pope John Paul II said of Divine Mercy Sunday, "In a special way, it is the Sunday of thanksgiving for all the goodness that God has shown us in the whole Easter mystery" (April 23, 1995).

Here, he underscored the Church's understanding that Divine Mercy Sunday as the Octave Day of Easter brings us the fullness of Christ's Resurrection — pointing back to the first day of our celebration on Easter Sunday and now to its fullness on the eighth day, the Octave.

Divine Mercy Sunday, then, can be seen as the convergence of all the mysteries and graces of both Holy Week and Easter Week. It is like a multiple-exposure photograph of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Week. On Mercy Sunday, the Octave Day of Easter, we celebrate the great graces that are available to us through our risen Lord's victory over sin, death, and the Evil One.

In fact, our Lord revealed to St. Faustina, the great Apostle of Divine Mercy, that He desires on this day to pour out a flood of mercy on souls:

My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy (Diary of St. Faustina, 699).

From The Divine Mercy

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