Archdiocesan parishes to observe
Divine Mercy Sunday

The Criterion staff report

Catholics in central and southern Indiana will join people around the world as they celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday on April 23.

The message and devotion to Jesus as the Divine Mercy is based on the writings of St. Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy.

Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to the Divine Mercy had begun to spread, according to the Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, whose Web site includes in-depth information on the Divine Mercy devotion (www.marian.org).

The period in which Christ entrusted his message of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina, in the years between World War I and World War II, is of great significance, the late Pope John Paul II said when he canonized the Polish Mercy sister in April 2000.

“Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible suffering of millions of people, know how necessary the message of mercy was,” the pope said.

The late Holy Father also instituted the annual celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2001. It is celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.

Pope John Paul said that “it [Divine Mercy Sunday] completes the paschal mystery,” said Anchorite Sister Mary Ann Schumann, whose ministry in the archdiocese focuses on Divine Mercy and eucharistic adoration at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis.

“It is now up to the Church to continue his mission,” she said.

The late Pope John Paul granted a plenary indulgence to those who take part “in prayers and devotions in honor of Divine Mercy” on that day. An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment deserved for sins.

In order to receive the indulgence, Catholics must fulfill the basic requirements of going to confession (during the Lenten season), receiving the Eucharist and offering prayers for the intentions of the pope.

The special indulgence is earned when they meet the basic requirements and then, “with a soul totally detached from any affection to sin, even venial, participate in the pious practices undertaken in honor of Divine Mercy, or at least recite in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament … the Our Father, the Creed and a pious invocation to the merciful Lord Jesus,” such as “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you,” Vatican officials said.

Divine Mercy Sunday observances on April 23 that have been reported to The Criterion are listed below. For more information about events at your parish, call your parish office.

• Christ the King Church, 1827 Kessler Blvd., Indianapolis—Divine Mercy prayer service and eucharistic adoration, 2-3 p.m. Information: 317-255-3666.
• St. Michael the Archangel Church, 3354 W. 30th St., Indianapolis—Divine Mercy prayer service, eucharistic adoration, 2 p.m., prayer service, 3 p.m., Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel and Father Varghese Maliakkal, presiders. Information: 317-926-1963.
• St. Augustine Home for the Aged, 2345 W. 86th St., Indianapolis—Little Sisters of the Poor and the Association Jeanne Jugan, Divine Mercy Sunday celebration, 3-4 p.m. Information: 317-872-6420.
• Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center, 8220 W. State Road 48, Bloomington—Divine Mercy chaplet and concert, 3 p.m. Information: 812-825-4642.
• St. Bartholomew Parish, Home Ave. and National Road, Columbus—Divine Mercy Sunday prayer service, 3-4 p.m. Information: 812-378-2941.
• Our Lady of the Greenwood Church, 335 S. Meridian St., Greenwood—Divine Mercy Sunday prayer service, eucharistic adoration, homily, Divine Mercy chaplet, eucharistic procession, Benediction, veneration of the Divine Mercy image and relic of St. Faustina, concert and testimonial by musician Annie Karto, 2 p.m., reception following prayer service. Information: 317-888-2861.
• St. Mary Church, 720 N. A St., Richmond—Divine Mercy Sunday prayer service, reconciliation, 12:30 p.m., Divine Mercy prayer service, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Information: 765-886-5503.
• St. Nicholas Church, 6461 E. St. Nicholas Dr., Sunman—Divine Mercy celebration, eucharistic adoration and Divine Mercy chaplet, 3 p.m. Information: 812-623-2964.
• St. Joseph Church, 2605 St. Joe Road, Sellersburg—Divine Mercy Sunday prayer service, eucharistic adoration, homily, Litany of Divine Mercy, 3 p.m., reception following service. Information: 812-246-2512.
• MKVS and DM Center, Rexville (located on 925 South, .8 mile east of 421 South, 12 miles south of Versailles)—Divine Mercy Sunday prayer service, holy hour, 2:30 p.m., Mass, 3:30 p.m., healing service, with Father Elmer Burwinkel, pitch-in dinner. Information: 812-689-3551 or e-mail frburwink@seidata.com or log on to Schoenstatt Web site at www.seidata.com/~frburwink. †