Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday is the Second Sunday of Easter. It is not an extra feast pasted onto the calendar. St. John Paul II gave this Sunday its title when he canonized St. Faustina Kowalska on April 30, 2000, and he died on the vigil of this Sunday in 2005. The day already belonged to the Easter octave. The Gospel is always John 20: the risen Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the confession of Thomas a week later.

St. Faustina’s Diary records the Lord’s request for a feast of mercy on the Sunday after Easter, together with the image of the rays of blood and water and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The Church received that devotion and set it inside the liturgy that was already about the wounds of the risen Lord and the forgiveness of sins. The octave day is a fitting place: the Church has been singing “this is the day the Lord has made” all week.

A plenary indulgence is offered under the usual conditions to the faithful who take part in the prayers of this day in honor of Divine Mercy, in a spirit of detachment from sin, including reception of Holy Communion and confession within the permitted time. The indulgence is a gift of the Church. It is not automatic, and it is not a substitute for conversion.

The popular hour of the Chaplet is three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour of the Lord’s death. Parishes often pray the Chaplet then, or expose the Blessed Sacrament. The day remains a Sunday of Easter, celebrated in white, with the Easter candle still burning.