Divine Mercy Apostolate

"No sinner will be turned away by God from His love and forgiveness no matter how great the sin. The greater the sinner, the greater My mercy."
Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul (c) 1987 Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

May 1, 2011 is Divine Mercy Sunday.

Divine Mercy Sunday Masses in the Diocese of Metuchen

Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi
32 Elm Ave., Metuchen
1:30pm

Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
50 West Somerset St., Raritan
1:00pm

Diocese of Metuchen Divine Mercy Apostolate
Mission and Organization

The mission of the Divine Mercy Apostolate is to be a community gathered by faith to proclaim the Divine Mercy of God for the conversion of souls through the Holy Eucharist under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

Our vision is To share the message of salvation in Christ Jesus with all humankind and to witness to the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

Rev. John C. Grimes
Moderator
(732) 257-0077

James M. Dimino
Coordinator
(908)-229-8540
divinemercyapostolate@att.net

National Shrine of the Divine Mercy
Stockbridge, Massachussetts
http://www.thedivinemercy.org

The Apostolate of Divine Mercy
"A World Apostolate"
http://www.divinemercyapostolate.net

What is Divine Mercy Sunday?

Click here for more information
regarding the work of the apostolate in the Diocese of Metuchen

Click here for information regarding Divine Mercy Apostolate events.

About Divine Mercy Sunday

A Private Revelation

On February 22, 1931, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ appeared to a simple nun, Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Cracow, Poland. Saint Faustina tells us in her diary under this date:

"In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, 'paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'" Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul (c) 1987 Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Some time later, Our Lord again spoke to her:

"The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross....Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him." Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul (c) 1987 Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Granting of the Universal Feast

During the course of Jesus' revelations on Divine Mercy to Saint Faustina He asked on numerous occasions that a feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and that this feast be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. The liturgical texts of that day, the 2nd Sunday of Easter, concern the institution of the Sacrament of Penance, the Tribunal of the Divine Mercy, and are thus already suited to the request of Our Lord.

This Feast, which had already been granted to the nation of Poland and been celebrated within Vatican City, was granted to the Universal Church by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the canonization of Sr. Faustina on 30 April 2000. In a decree dated 23 May 2000, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stated that "throughout the world the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that mankind will experience in the years to come."

These papal acts represent the highest endorsement that the Church can give to a private revelation, an act of papal infallibility proclaiming the certain sanctity of the mystic, and the granting of a universal feast, as requested by Our Lord to St. Faustina.

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Diocese of Metuchen Divine Mercy Apostolate

Click here for a brochure (pdf) for the Divine Mercy Aposostolate in the Diocese of Metuchen.

In the Diocese of Metuchen, the roots of the apostolate extend back to 1991 when a group of lay persons requested permission of Bishop Edward T. Hughes to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday at the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan. The Diocese of Metuchen Divine Mercy Apostolate was formalized in September of 1999 by Bishop Vincent DePaul Breen. Since it was the first Divine Mercy lay apostolate established in the United States, the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge Massachusetts gave Bishop Breen a first class relic of Saint Faustina. The Diocese of Metuchen Divine Mercy Apostolate has been the caretaker of the relic ever since.

Since that first Mass at the Shrine Chapel in 1991, Divine Mercy Sunday celebrations have grown within the Diocese of Metuchen. Now, many parishes throughout the diocese celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, opening to the parishioners of the diocese the chance to receive God’s infinite mercy.

Today, the Diocese of Metuchen Divine Mercy Apostolate gives presentations on Saint Faustina, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Message of Divine Mercy as related in the book Divine Mercy in My Soul, written by Saint Faustina and based on revelations with Our Lord which she received in the 1930’s. The Apostolate also distributes various printed resources received from the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachussetts. The First Class Relic of Saint Faustina, given as a gift to Bishop Breen by the National Shrine, travels with the apostolate.

The Diocese of Metuchen Divine Mercy Apostolate gives presentations for parishes throughout the diocese upon request. For more information, please contact James M. Dimino by phone: (908)-229-8540 or email: divinemercyapostolate@att.net

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