April 27, 2025
Today we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Divine Mercy Sunday, which was inaugurated by St. Pope John Paul II, after he canonized St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
Born into a poor Polish family, Helena Kowalska only had a second-grade education, and yet Jesus came to the humble nun in the 1930s, and through private revelations revealed one of the greatest messages of his infinite love and mercy, which she recorded in her diary “Divine Mercy in My Soul.”
Jesus told her, “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. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … Let no soul fear to draw near to Me. … It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. —St. Faustina, Diary, no. 699
In response to Jesus’ requests, an image of Divine Mercy was created, in which he appears with red and white rays emanating from his heart, symbolizing the blood and water that poured out for the salvation of mankind. Inscribed beneath his image are the words “Jesus, I trust in you.”
He also gave St. Faustina a Novena and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, promising, “Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death…. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy.”
For more information, visit https://www.shrineofdivinemercy.org, the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass.
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