Divine Mercy Sunday

O blood and water which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You.

Eternal Father, I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins, and those of the whole world.

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us, and on the whole world.

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

The Easter Octave appropriately culminates with the Feast of The Divine Mercy. Today we celebrate God's unfailing, unending love for us.

From Divine Mercy In My Soul:

Tell the world about My mercy and My love.

The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!

My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace.

Tell all people, My daugther, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls. (1074)

I love the 20th century saints, particularly Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. St. Faustina was a simple, uneducated Nun who in 1934 began to keep a diary that would become a profound work of mysticism, sparking an international devotion to the Mercy of our Lord Jesus. It was through her direction that the artist E. Kazimierowski painted the first image of the Divine Mercy. Several variations have been produced since (including the image at the top of this post). Christ opens the vestment to reveal his chest wound, and from it are rays of red and white light, the blood and water pouring out from his pierced heart.

I can't look at this image and not think of Cassius, the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side. I have been reading (along with a zillion other titles) Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Anne Catherine Emmerich (another great mystic of the Chruch), where she writes that when the blood and water flowing from Christ's side flowed onto Cassius' head and face, he fell off his horse to his knees and worshipped the Son of God. "The water and blood continued to flow from the large wound in the side of our Lord; it ran into the hollow in the rock, and the holy women put it in vases, while Mary and Magdalen mingled their tears." (Emmerich, Chapter XLVIII: The Opening Of the Side of Jesus.—Death of the two Thieves.)

Thus His Divine Mercy eternally flows. Today we stand at the foot of the cross with all of them, our own hearts the vessels with which we collect the great love and mercy flowing without end from the side of our Lord Jesus Christ.