April 18, 2025 – The Divine Mercy Novena begins each year on Good Friday. In the 1930s, Jesus instructed St. Faustina Kowalska to establish a Feast of Mercy to be celebrated the First Sunday after Easter. Sunday, April 27, 2025 is Divine Mercy Sunday. From the Diary of St. Faustina, 699, Jesus said:
On that day, the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.”
Novena to the Divine Mercy
Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. During the Solemn Novena, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy should be offered each day for the day’s intentions. He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena:
- Day 1 (Good Friday) – All mankind, especially sinners
- Day 2 (Holy Saturday) – The souls of priests and religious
- Day 3 (Easter Sunday) – All devout and faithful souls
- Day 4 (Easter Monday) – Those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do not yet know Him
- Day 5 (Easter Tuesday) – The souls of separated brethren
- Day 6 (Easter Wednesday) – The meek and humble souls and the souls of children
- Day 7 (Easter Thursday) – The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus’ mercy
- Day 8 (Easter Friday) – The souls who are detained in purgatory;
- Day 9 (Easter Saturday) – The souls who have become lukewarm.
Plenary Indulgence
Pope St. John Paul II added an opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence on the Feast Day. The following must be done:
- Go to Confession (within a week before the Feast Day)
- Receive Eucharistic Communion and a say a Prayer for the Pope
- In a church or in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in a tabernacle, recite the Our Father, the Nicene Creed, and a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus, such as:
- Merciful Jesus, I trust in You; or
- O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You
For additional information, see:
- https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-13366
- Divine Mercy booklet PDF
- https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/novena