It is Divine Mercy Sunday and the Octave of Easter this Sunday!

The devotion to Divine Mercy that people are generally referring to is rooted in a Polish nun name Sr. Faustina Kowalska, who was canonized in 2000.  The devotion was a favorite of Pope St. John Paul II.  He died on the Saturday evening right after the first Masses of Divine Mercy were celebrated in Rome.  I personally think he held on until then, precisely to die within the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday!  We have a group that has met here weekly to pray what is called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (we also pray it right before Benediction) and to reflect on Sr. Faustina’s writings.  Jesus as the source of God’s merciful will for humanity is the focus of this devotion. 

Just as a novena refers to the number nine, octave refers to the number eight.  For us, both Christmas and Easter are celebrated as an Octave.  This means that the Church considers the mysteries (the Incarnation and the Resurrection) celebrated on these days to be of such importance that they cannot really be contained in one day.  This means the celebration of Christmas continues through and includes the celebration on January 1, and the celebration of Easter continues through and includes the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday).  That makes eight days of celebration, thus Octave!

Of course, as followers of Christ, we are called to celebrate Easter every Sunday, if not every moment of our lives.  So HAPPY EASTER and HAPPY DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY!