ROCKAWAY As heavy rains pelted Rockaway and the rest of northern New Jersey last weekend, the love and mercy of God came pouring down on faithful in St. Cecilia Church here, who had taken the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the message of and the devotion to Divine Mercy, during a “Mercy and Mary Retreat” here from Friday, Aug. 10 to Saturday, Aug. 11. The 380 Catholics from St. Cecilia’s and beyond gave a celebrity welcome to the leader of the retreat, Marian Father of the Immaculate Conception Michael E. Gaitley, a noted author, who encouraged them to spread the Divine Mercy message far and wide to a world filled with suffering and sin.
During the retreat, Father Gaitley, director of Evangelization for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception in Stockbridge, Mass., and director of Formation for the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy, introduced participating faithful to Divine Mercy, broadened the understanding of faithful who already practice a devotion to it, and explained the Blessed Mother’s role in it. St. John Paul II had a strong devotion to Divine Mercy and in 2001, established Divine Mercy Sunday to be observed on the Sunday after Easter Sunday. The message of Divine Mercy proclaims that God loves all of us; that he wants us to recognize that his mercy is greater than our sins and call on him with trust to receive his mercy; and that we should let that mercy flow through us to other people, Father Gaitley said.
The retreat started on Friday evening and continued during the day on Saturday. Father Gaitley received a warm welcome of the participating faithful. Many of them have read his books, including the popular “33 Days to Morning Glory: a Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Marian Consecration,” or watched videos based on his books. Over the past several years, a few parishes in the Diocese have used “33 Days to Morning Glory” in the process of consecrating their respective faith communities to Mary.
“God’s mercy is real and his love is real. We just need to trust in him. God is working in our time to overcome evil and suffering. It is our job to bring that message to the world,” said Father Gaitley on Saturday morning. He also quoted John Paul II: “How much the world needs to understand and accept Divine Mercy.”
Run by the Retreat Team of the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy, the retreat at St. Cecilia’s featured five talks by Father Gaitley. They were: personal testimony — “Now Is the Time for Mercy;” “St. John Paul II: Fatima and the Great Mercy Pope;” “St. Maximilian Kolbe: Mary’s Instrument of Mercy;” “St. Therese of Lisieux: the Way of Merciful Love” and “Your Role in this Time of Mercy.” It also included Mass, personal testimonies by the Marian Missionaries, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Adoration/Benediction and a book signing with Father Gaitley, said Jennifer Nelson, a Sacred Heart parishioner, who coordinated the event with the Marian Missionaries.
“Father Gaitley’s talks are so inspirational, teaching us how to share Divine Mercy in our daily lives,” said Nelson, who had attended a retreat in Connecticut with her husband, Derek, music minister at Sacred Heart Parish, also in Rockaway. She brought the idea of the “Mercy and Mary Retreat” to Father Zig Peplowski, pastor of St. Cecilia, who approved it. “Father Gaitley is relatable and down to earth. We live in a time when sin is abounding but God’s grace is abounding more. After this retreat, I anticipate that shock waves of grace will go throughout Rockaway and other communities,” she said.
Over the years, St. Cecilia Parish has cultivated a devotion to Divine Mercy. Nelson has led a Mommy and Me group through several of Father Gaitley’s books and DVDs. The parish holds a devotion on Divine Mercy Sunday. Recently, Father Peplowski blessed an image of Divine Mercy — a portrait of Christ bringing the light of his love and mercy into the darkness over the words “Jesus, I Trust in You,” Nelson said.
On Saturday morning, Father Gaitley spoke about the role of Mary, God’s love in mercy and Poland in preserving Christian civilization. In 1683, a Polish army, dedicated to the Blessed Mother, crushed a Muslim army in their siege on Vienna, thus saving the Holy Roman Empire. Afterward, Pope Innocent XI declared Sept. 12 as the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. In 1920, a small army in Poland thwarted a take over of Warsaw by a much larger army of atheistic communists. Before World War II, Jesus appeared in Poland to St. Faustina Kowalska, who obeyed his command to have an image of Divine Mercy painted. During the war, Polish soldiers had copies of that image with them in battle and households displayed the image to help give them hope, the priest said.
After World War II, devotion to Divine Mercy spread like wildfire. Pope St. John XXIII placed a temporary ban on the devotion, due to errors in the transcription of St. Faustina’s writings. Later, the errors were corrected and the Church lifted the ban. With the help of St. John Paul II, Lech Walesa led the Solidarity movement, which is credited with aiding in helping to defeat the occupying communists in the 1980s, Father Gaitley said.
Early in his pontificate, St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina as the first saint of the Jubilee year in 2000. He declared that day as “the happiest day of my life,” because, as Father Gaitley said, “he had completed the task that God had assigned him” in promoting Divine Mercy. The next year, the Pope established Divine Mercy Sunday. In 2002, he dedicated a Divine Mercy Shrine in Poland and there consecrated the world to Divine Mercy, while talking about how Poland will help prepare the world for the Second Coming of Christ, the priest said.
“Divine Mercy is the largest grass-roots movement in Church history. It’s rekindling Catholic life, because people are so filled with the joy of the Gospel,” Father Gaitley said.
One retreat-goer was Carissa Van Fleet of St. Mary Parish, Denville, who admitted being “star struck” in the presence of Father Gaitley. She claimed that reading “33 Days to Morning Glory” had changed her life.
“Father Gaitley’s ideas are deep but they are easy to follow and easy to comprehend,” said Van Fleet, who was “going through hard times,” while reading the book. “I learned more about my life and my faith. It gave me hope. Father Gaitley made me want to learn and grow in my faith,” she said.