Holy masses will be celebrated at the National Shrine and Parish of the Divine Mercy Philippines in Marilao, Bulacan on April 24, as the Roman Catholic Church marks Divine Mercy Sunday.
Kalookan Bishop Emeritus Deogracias S. Iniguez, Jr. will celebrate the mass at 5 a.m. Malolos Bishop Dennis C. Villarolo will lead the Misa Mayor (High Mass) at 10:30 a.m. Holy masses will also be offered at 6 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and at 8 p.m.
The confessional will be available from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The shrine is home to the world’s tallest statue of the Divine Mercy at 100 feet. It was blessed and dedicated during the 4th World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM) held in the country in 2017.
The Solemnity of the Divine Mercy 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.
Divine Mercy Sunday focuses on the diary of St. Faustina, who wrote it in the 1930s for mankind to know about Jesus’ great mercy and His promise of complete forgiveness of sins on this day.
According to St. Faustina, ‘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.’