Divine Mercy & the Conversion of Sinners, by Derek Rotty

During the Great Jubilee Year 2000, now twenty-five years ago (April 30, 2000, specifically) Pope St. John Paul II instituted the great feast of Divine Mercy Sunday. By his declaration, the feast is to be celebrated throughout the Church on the Second Sunday of Easter each year. On that same day, he canonized Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish consecrated nun who received a private revelation from the Lord to become His Secretary of Mercy. The blessed pontiff made both these declarations at the inception of the new millennium to remind the Church the dire need for mercy, and to share the bright spark that would prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Although I do not know exactly the reasons, I must admit that I have struggled to engage with this devotion. I certainly have known the powerful historical context; I have learned the progression of particular prayers associated with it; I have sporadically prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, revealed to St. Faustina and explicated in her Diary; I have attempted several Divine Mercy Novenas, almost all ending in miserable failure within a few short days. But, as this significant anniversary has drawn near, I have sought to participate anew in what it offers, to find practical ways to access the abundance of graces that are so obviously available. …

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