‘Jesus, I Trust in You’

PATERSON  As the Year of Mercy is celebrated by the universal Church, Divine Mercy Sunday this year takes on special meaning — reminding all no matter how lonely or sinful they are, they will never be forgotten by God.

Throughout the diocese, parishes will be marking the feast of Divine Mercy Sunday, which is held on the Second Sunday of Easter. This year the feast will be on April 3 and will be marked with special holy hours, many near or around 3 p.m., which is considered the hour of Divine Mercy. The celebrations will include the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction and recitation of the Divine Mercy chaplet and the rosary.

St. John Paul II inaugurated the annual feast to be observed on the Second Sunday of Easter as a day of devotion to Christ’s tender mercy for all humanity. He declared the day officially on April 30, 2000 when he canonized St. Faustina Kowlaska, the young Polish nun and visionary of Jesus as “divine mercy.”

Bishop Serratelli will mark Divine Mercy Sunday at St. Stephen's Parish here at noon April 3 with a tri-lingual Mass in English, Polish and Spanish concelebrated with Father Dariusz Kaminski, pastor, who was born in Poland and grew up near the same town as Blessed Michael Sopocko, St. Faustina’s spiritual director.

“In every church, the image of Divine Mercy was visible in my diocese (in Poland),” said Father Kaminski. “When I came to America, I always had special devotion to Divine Mercy. When I became pastor at St. Stephen’s I thought it was important to have special hours for the devotion.”

Father Kaminski has created many prayer opportunities for the faithful at the Paterson parish to Divine Mercy. On every first Friday, there are devotions in Spanish and on every third Friday in Polish. There’s also a special Divine Mercy image for families to bring home for the week.

“Families are always very happy to welcome the image into their homes. They have said they’ve received many blessings and graces,” said Father Kaminski.

At Annunciation Parish in Wayne, the Divine Mercy Sunday celebration, which will begin at 2 p.m. with confessions, has been held for 15 years and started with the late Msgr. Stanley Schinski, pastor emeritus.

Msgr. Peter Doody, pastor of Annunciation, has continued the celebration of the feast and said it continues to grow every year. “We will have eight priests listening to confessions, which shows how much people desire God’s mercy. The faithful know we are here every year marking the day,” said Msgr. Doody. “With this year being the Year of Mercy, I think it’s going to be greatly attended.”

The Wayne parish has also hosted several events throughout the year to mark the Year of Mercy. Young people of the parish have been doing 30 days of acts of mercy for the local community. In May, the parish will have a retreat day on mercy at Delbarton in Morristown.

Our Lady of Pompeii in Paterson is also hosting Divine Mercy Sunday services at 3 p.m. with prayers, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, readings from St. Faustina’s diary and confessions. Father Frank Agresti, pastor, said, “When I served at my first parish, St. Peter the Aposlte in Parsippany, I was very impressed by the people’s devotion and the need for God’s mercy. To me, there’s nothing like the Sacrament of Reconcili­ation, which allows us to experience God’s mercy face-to-face.”

In addition to devotions on Divine Mercy Sunday, many parishes and the faithful pray the nine-day novena for Divine Mercy, which traditionally starts on Good Friday and ends on Divine Mercy Sunday. For each day of the novena a different intention is prayed for.

The novena intentions are for all mankind, especially sinners; the souls of priests and religious; all devout and faithful souls; those who do not believe in God and those that don’t know Jesus yet; the souls of those who have separated from the Church; the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children; the souls who especially venerate and glorify God’s mercy and the souls who are detained in purgatory.

The image of Divine Mercy, which depicts Jesus with rays radiating from his heart, is the earliest element of the devotion. On Feb. 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina in this way. During this visit, Jesus told the young saint to paint an image with what she saw and the signature: “Jesus, I trust in you.” In honor of this moment, parishes have an image of Divine Mercy blessed as a reminder of God’s salvation.

In addition, the Divine Mercy chaplet is recited. St. Faustina used rosary beads to say this prayer now proclaimed today. On the “Our Father” beads and the “Hail Mary” beads, prayers specific to Jesus’ mercy are said.

Father Kaminski said, “Pope Francis told the people, ‘Without God’s mercy, the world will not exist. We need God’s mercy in our relationship with God. When we know we are sinners, God is happy to forgive us. All our relationships should be based on mercy. We should not judge each other but show compassion and love to one another.”