Divine Mercy Veneration
Mark your calendar for a special opportunity on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11, when a first class relic of St. Faustina will be at the 10:30am Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church! The relic will be available for veneration immediately before and after Mass, from 10am to 12pm. Thanks to the St. Faustina Shrine at St. Ann Church in Bartlett for loan of the relic!
Jesus promised St. Faustina that the soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. To fittingly observe the Feast of Mercy, we should:
- Celebrate the Feast the Sunday after Easter; April 11 Divine Mercy Sunday.
- Sincerely repent of all our sins.
- Place our complete trust in Jesus.
- Go to Confession (anytime during Lent through Divine Mercy Sunday).
- Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast.
- Venerate the Image of The Divine Mercy.
- Be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and prayers.
Plenary Indulgence
The extraordinary graces promised to the faithful by our Lord Himself through St. Faustina should not be confused with the plenary indulgence granted by Pope John Paul II for the devout observance of the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday). The Decree of the Holy See offers: A plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in You!)...
Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth. "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints".