The feast serves as a reminder of Jesus’ promise for “the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment on this day that gives mankind a chance for salvation.”
Initiated by Saint John Paul II on April 30, 2000 during the canonization of Polish nun Saint Faustina Kowalska, the Apostle of Divine Mercy, devotees habitually recite the Novena and Chaplet of the Divine Mercy every day at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
The world’s tallest statue of the Divine Mercy at 100 feet may be found at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan. It was blessed and dedicated during the 4th World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM) which was held in the country in 2017.
Divine Mercy Sunday focuses on the diary of St. Faustina, who wrote in the 1930s for mankind to know about Jesus’ great mercy and His promise of complete forgiveness of sins on this day.
Jesus said that a person who avails of Sacramental Confession and receives Holy Communion on this day shall obtain the total forgiveness of all sins and punishment.
Meanwhile, all Catholic churches will pray for an end to the pandemic today. In a circular, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles instructed all archdioceses and dioceses around the country to incorporate into the holy masses this Divine Mercy Sunday the prayer for an end to the pandemic.