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Divine Mercy Novena
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Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday!

Did you know that the Feast of Divine Mercy is actually an ancient feast? It is the 8th and culminating day of the Octave of Easter. (Easter is so great a feast it takes 8 days to celebrate!)

The feast was lost in time until Jesus came to a nun in Poland, St. Faustina, in 1938.
He asked her to help people understand his unending mercy and come to trust in him.

Try praying the Divine Mercy chaplet with us for 9 days beginning on Good Friday.
Even if the prayer seems odd on day 1, 2, or 3, keep trying.

The Divine Mercy Devotion begins with a humble, faithful, servant of God. Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament was born as Helena Kowalska, in Glogowiec, Leczyca County, north-west of Lódz in Poland on August 25, 1905. She was the third of 10 children born into a poor and religious family that struggled during the long years of World War !. At age 20 he entered the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland  with only three years of education.  so hers were the humblest tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or garden. St. Faustina Kowalska was born in Poland in 1905. . She seemed to those around her to be a very ordinary nun and was given the task of working in the kitchens and gardens.

However, in 1931, she was blessed by a vision of Jesus. She wrote in her diary:

In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.”

Before her death at age 33, she had other visions of Jesus, all of which centered on the message of God’s great mercy for humanity. Pope St. John Paul II had a particular devotion to St. Faustina and established Divine Mercy Sunday, which is celebrated each year on the Sunday one week after Easter Sunday.

This devotion has many different components:  a divinely inspired painting,  the Divine Mercy chaplet,  Divine Mercy Novena, The Diary of Faustina Kowalska, a Holy Hour (3 o'clock), and Divine Mercy Sunday a solemn feast day with indulgences. 

Like the gospel command, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful," this demand that we show mercy to our neighbors "always and everywhere" seems impossible to
fulfill. But the Lord assures us that it is possible. "When a soul approaches Me with trust," He explains, "I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls" (Diary, 1074).

How do we "radiate" God's mercy to others? By our actions, our words, and our prayers. "In these three degrees," he tells Sister Faustina, "is contained the fullness of mercy" (Diary 742).

The message of mercy is that God loves us — all of us — no matter how great our sins.  His mercy is greater than our sins,  we must call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others.  It is a message can be remembered by ABC.

A — Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.

B — Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.

C — Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message
 

Jesus said to Saint Faustina, "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and throughout the world.'" (Diary 47)

The Image  https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image
She also records the following words of Jesus in relation to the image he commissioned her to have painted and venerated:

"I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory." (Diary 48)

"I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You." (Diary 327)

"The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him." (Diary 299)

"Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush, lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace." (Diary 313)

"By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works." (Diary 742)

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image

“At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy… In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion.” (Diary, 1320)“As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul.  In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world — mercy triumphed over justice.” (Diary, 1572)   

3 O'CLOCK PRAYER
The Hour of Great Mercy

You died Jesus but the source of life flowed out for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O fountain of Life, immeasurable Divine Mercy, cover the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water which flowed from the heart of Jesus as a Fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world. 3X

Jesus King of Mercy, I trust in You!

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/hour

As a further sign of His forgiving love, Jesus called for a Feast of the Divine Mercy to be celebrated in the whole Church.

"I want this image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, the depths of My Mercy will be open to all. Whoever will go to confession and Holy Communion on that day will receive complete
forgiveness of sin and punishment. Mankind will not enjoy peace until it returns to My Mercy." 

So what are the graces?
The most important grace that Christ promises for Divine Mercy Sunday is equivalent to the soul returning to the state it was right after baptism – “complete forgiveness (remission) of sins and punishment”. This grace can usually only be received by baptism itself. “Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment,” Christ told Faustina.

What do we do to receive these graces? 
Receive Holy Communion in a state of grace on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration on Saturday evening), make a good confession, and trust in His Divine Mercy.
 

.thedivinemercy.org/mercysunday/ewtn

The Divine Mercy prayers are referred to as a "chaplet" because they are counted on rosary beads. Some chaplets have a strong Marian element, others focus more directly on Jesus or the Saints. Chaplets are "personal devotionals" and can vary considerably.

In 1933, God gave Saint Faustina a striking vision of His Mercy, She tells us:
"I saw a great light, with God the Father in the midst of it. Between this light and the earth I saw Jesus nailed to the Cross and in such a way that God, wanting to look upon the earth, had to look through Our Lord's wounds. And I understood that God blessed
the earth for the sake of Jesus."


"I saw an Angel, the executor of God's wrath... about to strike
the earth...I began to beg God earnestly for the world with words
which I heard interiorly. As I prayed in this way, I saw the
Angel's helplessness, and he could not carry out the just
punishment...."

 Jesus said to Sister Faustina:
"Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone whosays it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy...." "....When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior".
 

   https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/chaplet

The word "novena" comes from the Latin word "novem" which means "nine."
For this reason, a novena is a prayer which is said consecutively for nine days. Novena's can be prayed at anytime during the year however, they are especially encouraged around the particular feast day or saint that the devotion is to.

The Novena to Divine Mercy begins on Good Friday and Jesus gave St. Faustina a different intention to pray for on each day saving what He said was the most difficult for last.

In her diary, Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:
"On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different
group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy.

... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My
passion, for the graces for these souls."

The different souls prayed for on each day of the novena are:

DAY 1 (Good Friday) - All mankind, especially sinners
DAY 2 (Holy Saturday) - The souls of priests and religious
DAY 3 (Easter Sunday) - All devout and faithful souls
DAY 4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe and do not yet know Him
DAY 5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of separated brethren
DAY 6 (Easter Wednesday) - The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
DAY 7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus' mercy
DAY 8 (Easter Friday) - The souls who are detained in purgatory; and
DAY 9 (Easter Saturday )- The souls who have become lukewarm.
 
 

   https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/novena

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