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April 22, 2022
ST ANTONINUS CATHOLIC CHURCH
337 S. ORANGE ST, NEWARK NJ 07103
SaintAntoninusChurch@gmail.com . 973-623-0258
Divine Mercy Sunday Edition # 2
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Divine Mercy Sunday
at St. Antoninus!
This is part 2 of the Divine Mercy Sunday issue.
Please refer to the recently sent newsletter for more details on our Liturgy, links and other information:
Brief summary from the recently sent newsletter:
√ Divine Mercy Sunday Mass at 8am & 10am (4/24/22)
with the Veneration & Blessing of Sacred Image
(9:00 AM Holy Hour & Divine Mercy Novena & Chaplet.)
√ Divine Mercy Eucharistic Vigil in the rectory chapel- from 6-9pm tomorrow, Saturday April 23. This is a great way to prepare for Divine Mercy Sunday.We will be praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet & the last day of novena, as well as some really beautiful prayers derived from the Diary of St Faustina. Confessions will be available . Come in person. If it is not possible, join us on zoom. Click here for the vigil prayers.
√ The Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit at St Antoninus. If you have not viewed this highly inspiring and beautiful display, please do so. We have a few more days to enjoy the presentation, which is on loan to St Antoninus through Divine Mercy Sunday. You are welcome to come during the week or on Saturday for a private viewing. Just call the rectory 908-531-9424 to schedule this.
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Below... a quick intro from Fr Chris Alar! |
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TO RECEIVE SPECIAL GRACES THAT OUR LORD PROMISED FOR DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
the only condition is (1) to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration) , (2) by making a good Confession beforehand and staying in the state of grace ( 3) and trusting in His Divine Mercy.
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Confessions will be available at St. Antoninus this weekend:
SATURDAY (during Divine Adoration Prayer Meeting) from 3-5pm in the lower church, and and also during our Divine Mercy Eucharistic Vigil from 6-9pm in the Rectory chapel area. Additionally on Sunday from 9am-9:45am (but as much as possible, don't wait for Sunday as time is limited and there is no guarantee of the how long the lines will be)
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Prayer after Receiving Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a poor sinner. Jesus, You promised St. Faustina that the soul who has been to confession ( I have) and the soul that receives Holy Communion ( I just did), will receive the complete forgiveness of all sins and punishment. Please give me this grace. Amen.
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More information on Divine Mercy Sunday... read on:
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WHY IS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
THE FULFILLMENT OF EASTER?
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Among all of the elements of devotion to The Divine Mercy requested by our Lord through St. Faustina, the Feast of Mercy holds first place.
The Lord's will with regard to its establishment was already made known in His first revelation to the saint. In all, there were 14 revelations concerning the desired feast.
Once after insisting, "Do all you possibly can for this work of mercy," Jesus added: "My Heart rejoices on account of this feast."
Sister Faustina concluded: "After these words, I understood that nothing can dispense me from the obligation which the Lord demands of me" (Diary, 998).
Our Lord's explicit desire is that this feast be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. He joins the feast to the designated Sunday in eight revelations: Diary, 49, 88, 280, 299, 341, 570, 699, and 742. He also implies a connection between the feast and that Sunday on some other occasions recorded in the saint's Diary (see Diary, 420, 89).
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Here is one of the revelations from Jesus in the Diary:
“I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened.
Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” Diary of St Faustina #699
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The "First Sunday after Easter, which is designated in "The Liturgy of the Hours and the Celebration of the Eucharist" as "Octave Day of the Easter" ,was officially called the Second Sunday of Easter after the liturgical reform of Vatican II. Now, by the Decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the name of this liturgical day has been changed to: "Second Sunday of Easter, or of Divine Mercy."
St. John Paul II made the surprise announcement of this change in his homily at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000. There, he declared: "It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called 'Divine Mercy Sunday.' "
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By the words "the whole message," St. John Paul II was referring to the strict connection between the "Easter Mystery of the Redemption" the suffering, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, followed by the sending of the Holy Spirit , and this Feast of Divine Mercy,
the Octave Day of Easter.
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In this regard, the Holy Father also said, citing the Responsorial Psalm of the Liturgy, "The Church sings ... , as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm" [that is, Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His steadfast love (=mercy) endures forever, Ps 118:1]. |
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And then, the Holy Father developed the connection further: "[This comes] from the lips of the risen Christ, who bears the great message of Divine Mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room: 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you. ... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' " (Jn 20:21:23).
By what the Holy Father continued to say, it becomes clear why Jesus insisted that the sacred image of Himself as The Divine Mercy is to be venerated throughout the world in connection with the observance of this Sunday (see Diary, 49, 88, 299, 341, 570, 742).
St. John Paul II said: "Before speaking these words, Jesus shows His hands and His side. He points, that is, to the wounds of the Passion, especially the wound in His Heart, the source from which flows the great wave of mercy poured out on humanity.
"Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the Heart of Christ crucified: 'Tell, My daughter, [all people] that I am Love and Mercy itself [personified]' Jesus told St. Faustina (Diary, 1074).
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Christ pours out this mercy on humanity through the sending of the Spirit who, in the Trinity, is the Person Love. And is not mercy love's 'second name' (cf. Rich in Mercy, n.7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its most immense capacity for forgiveness?"
From this teaching of the Holy Father on that most solemn occasion of his "presenting the life and witness of St. Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God to our time," it can be deduced that the most opportune time, the most proper one, for the solemn honoring of The Divine Mercy falls immediately after the Paschal Feast of Easter, recalling the attaining of our Redemption.
St. Augustine (in the 400’s AD, way before St. Faustina) called the eight days of Easter (which the Church liturgically considers as constituting a single day ,the day of the new creation) "days of mercy and pardon." He calls the Sunday of this Paschal Octave (which our Lord insisted with St. Faustina is the Feast of Mercy [Diary, 88]) "the summary of the days of mercy" (Sermon 156, Dom. In Albis). http://www.divinemercysunday.com/mercy_sunday.htm
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Please read the following resources below. Just click each button.
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