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Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday: The Sunday after Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday is an AMAZING day! The Lord has promised so many graces to those who attend Mass, Reconciliation, and receive the Holy Eucharist this day. The first time I remember learning about the beauty of this feast day, was when I was in graduate school. It was then that I was introduced to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and made sure to arrive early to Mass in order to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation that day. As I reflect back upon that experience, I find it inspiring and moving and an experience that has helped my devotion to Jesus’ Divine Mercy grow. 

You and your family can start celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday by going to Mass, Reconciliation, and receiving the Eucharist; and then continue with activities related to Saint Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy. Back in 2019, my family and I attended a Divine Mercy Celebration at one of our city's local parishes, and it was a beautiful celebration. There were several priests, from throughout the diocese, available for reconciliation, then there was Mass, and a Eucharistic procession with adoration. If you've never attended one of these celebrations, it is definitely something you and your family should experience! 

My love for Divine Mercy continued when I read The Diary of Saint Faustina, and then when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the spring of 2020, I read an article about spiritually adopting a person who was dying alone from the virus and saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet for them. Since all things are possible for God, my husband and I decided to offer the Chaplets we prayed for all of those dying alone, because how could we just pick one person? The Divine Mercy Chaplet is an extremely beautiful prayer. If you've never heard or prayed it, I have a YouTube link to the sung version of the Chaplet at the bottom of this post that you and your family can listen to and pray with. During the pandemic, we also sealed our home with a prayer card of the Divine Mercy image. We taped the prayer card on the inside of the glass on our front door. The Divine Mercy image that Jesus commissioned Saint Faustina to have painted, is absolutely beautiful! We have a painting of The Divine Mercy image hanging at the bottom of our stairs by our front door, and every year on Divine Mercy Sunday at 3:00pm, the hour of Divine Mercy, we re-enthrone our Divine Mercy painting. When we first bought our Divine Mercy painting, we had our parish priest bless it. You can use this family prayer, from The Divine Mercy, to invite Jesus and his Divine Mercy into your home and start this beautiful tradition with your family too!  I hope you and your family have a blessed Divine Mercy Sunday! 

Celebrating with Food: 

Since Saint Faustina was from Poland, my family makes Polish Pierogis for dinner. I've used this recipe, from "Artisan Imports," and found it to be a bit challenging, so this year I am going to try making pierogis using this recipe from "Taste of Home" instead.  I also make Polish butter cookies, using a recipe from the website "The Spruce Eats," for dessert.  I love  jam-filled cookies, and these shortbread-style cookies are filled with strawberry jam and simply delicious! Also, here is a recipe for a “Polish-American Breakfast Skillet,” from the website, “The Spruce Eats,” that I am going to make for my family this Divine Mercy Sunday (2021). It sounds delicious, and I can’t wait to try it! I’ll post a picture of how it turns out. 



(These are the Pierogis from the Taste of Home recipe and my family liked them better than the ones we made in 2020)

(Polish-American Breakfast Skillet-DELICIOUS!)

Celebrating with Crafts and Prayer:

As a family, you can color Divine Mercy coloring pages, from the website "Catholic Kid,” or you can draw your own representations of the image. You can also make Divine Mercy Chaplet decades. I found Divine Mercy medals for $0.55 when you buy 12 at my local Catholic supply store, but you can also purchase them in bulk from Autom or other online stores. Using jewelry wire and beads, you can attach the Divine Mercy medal and make decade chaplets for each member of your family. Then, you can say a decade of the chaplet together as a family. Here is a link, from the USCCB, that explains how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. 


                           (My 4 and a half year old’s drawing)

  (My oil pastel rendition)

Additional Resources: 

Check out this article from Catholic News Agency for other ways to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday at home. 

This article, from the National Catholic Register, lists 17 things Jesus told Saint Faustina about His mercy. 

The book, Divine Mercy for Little Ones, by Kimberly Fries, is a great resources to introduce young kids to the Divine Mercy devotion and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. My husband and I purchased this book for our kids for Easter. 

Sung version of The Divine Mercy Chaplet:







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