The following diocesan parishes have scheduled programs for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27.
Chillicothe-Waverly Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles – Eucharistic Adoration, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, confessions, music, prayers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, 3 p.m., Chillicothe St. Mary Church. The parish also will pray a Divine Mercy Novena beginning after the Good Friday service on April 18 at St. Mary Church and continuing at 3 p.m. daily from Saturday, April 19 to Saturday, April 26 at Chillicothe St. Peter Church.
Circleville St. Joseph – Holy Hour with confessions, 2 p.m.; Chaplet, 3 p.m.
Columbus Christ the King — Adoration after 12:30 p.m. Spanish Mass (approximately 2-3:30 p.m.); final day of Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet, 3 p.m.
Columbus Holy Family – Adoration, confessions, noon; solemn blessing and veneration of Divine Mercy image, 2:30 p.m.; Chaplet, 3 p.m.; Benediction, 4:50 p.m.; Mass, 5 p.m.
Columbus St. Catharine of Siena – Adoration, sung Chaplet, confessions, 3 p.m.; Benediction, 4 p.m.
Columbus St. Christopher – Divine Mercy Hour, 2 to 3 p.m.; Mass celebrated by Father William Hahn, 3 p.m.
Columbus St. Leo the Great Oratory – Low Mass in Latin, 8 a.m.; Solemn Mass followed by Chaplet, Benediction and Easter egg hunt, 10:30 a.m.
Columbus St. Thomas the Apostle — Adoration after 10:30 a.m. Spanish Mass; final day of Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet, 3 p.m.
Delaware St. Mary – Adoration, Chaplet and confessions, noon to 2 p.m.
Dennison Immaculate Conception – Adoration and confessions, 1 to 3 p.m.; Chaplet, 3 p.m.; Benediction, 3:15 p.m.
Gahanna St. Matthew the Apostle – Holy Hour and confessions, 2 to 4 p.m.
Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator – Chaplet, Adoration and confessions, 3 to 5 p.m.
London St. Patrick – Adoration and confessions, 2 to 3 p.m.; Chaplet, Benediction, 3 p.m.
Mount Vernon St. Vincent de Paul – Prayers, Adoration and confessions, 2 to 3 p.m.; Chaplet, 3 p.m.
Newark Blessed Sacrament – Chaplet, 3 p.m.; Novena, 2 p.m. April 18 and 3 p.m. April 19 to 26
Newark St. Francis de Sales – Chaplet following 11 a.m. Mass April 27
Pickerington St. Elizabeth Seton – Holy Hour with Adoration and sung Chaplet, 3 p.m.
Plain City St. Joseph – Holy Hour, 2 to 3 p.m.; Chaplet, Benediction, 3 to 3:30 p.m.
Reynoldsburg St. Pius X – Chaplet after Masses at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 and 10 a.m. Sunday; confessions, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.; Chaplet, Rosary, 3 p.m.; Vespers and Benediction, 4 p.m.
Scioto Catholic St. John Paul II Parish – Adoration and confessions, 3 to 4 p.m.; Chaplet, 3:15 p.m., Portsmouth Holy Redeemer Church
Sunbury St. John Neumann – Confessions, 2 to 3:30 p.m., sung Chaplet, 3 p.m.
West Jefferson Ss. Simon and Jude – Adoration, confessions, Chaplet, 3 to 4 p.m.
Westerville St. Paul the Apostle – Confessions, Adoration, Chaplet, Sacred Heart litany, Rosary, Divine Mercy Praises, 3 to 4 p.m.
Worthington St. Michael the Archangel – Adoration, confessions, 1:30 to 4 p.m.; sung Chaplet, 3 p.m.
Divne Mercy Sunday was instituted in 2000 after Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina Kowalska. The feast is celebrated annually on the first Sunday after Easter on the Church’s liturgical calendar.
The Polish nun, who had visions and conversations with Christ starting in 1931, was instructed to have painted what became widely known as the Divine Mercy image with rays of light representing blood and water radiating from His Sacred Heart. The image includes the inscription “Jesus, I Trust in You” at the bottom.
St. Faustina also compiled during the final years of her short life on Earth before her death in 1938 the “Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska,” a popular spiritual classic that contains thoughts inspired by visions of Jesus.
After St. Faustina’s canonization on April 30, 2000, and the official designation of Divine Mercy Sunday, devotion to Divine Mercy has spread rapidly throughout the universal church.
Divine Mercy Sunday also is the culmination of a novena that begins on Good Friday. The novena incudes the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which is prayed throughout the year by Catholics using the beads of the Holy Rosary.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II decreed that a plenary indulgence be granted to the faithful who participate in the prayers and Divine Mercy devotions, go to confession and receive Holy Communion in a state of grace.
The Polish pope is closely tied to the devotion. He died in 2005 on the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday and was beatified in 2011 and canonized in 2014 on Divine Mercy Sunday.,