The Marian Fathers extend a warm invitation to come to Eden Hill TODAY for Divine Mercy Sunday. Admission is free. Online bus registration has closed, but private vehicles are welcome with no registration required. Details here.
READ: Homily of Cardinal Pietro Parolin for Divine Mercy Sunday at the Vatican today.
READ: The Philippines makes history today as the first nation consecated to Divine Mercy.
Welcome to Divine Mercy Sunday!
Well, they do say that April showers bring May flowers,... Here's hoping for clear skies and no rain today!
In case you missed yesterday's amazing Divine Mercy Conference, here's the replay:
And be sure and watch our EWTN Pre-Show and the Divine Mercy Sunday Liturgy LIVE right here, starting at 12 Noon ET:
From the homily this morning of His Eminence, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the Vatican for Divine Mercy Sunday:
Mercy takes us back to the heart of faith. It reminds us that we do not have to interpret our relationship with God and our being Church according to human or worldly categories. The good news of the Gospel is first and foremost the discovery of being loved by a God who has compassionate and tender feelings for each one of us, regardless of our merits. It also reminds us that our life is woven with mercy: we can only get back up after our falls and look to the future if we have someone who loves us without limits and forgives us.
Therefore, we are called to the commitment of living our relationships no longer according to the criteria of calculation or blinded by selfishness, but by opening ourselves to dialogue with others, welcoming those we meet along the way and forgiving their weaknesses and mistakes. Only mercy heals and creates a new world, putting out the fires of distrust, hatred and violence: this is the great teaching of Pope Francis.
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 9 a.m.
Pilgrims starting to arrive. Thousands expected today!
Founder of the Marian Congregation, St. Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701), "stands" ready to "greet" pilgrims! His feast day is May 18.
The vast Gift Shop Tent is stocked and ready for pilgrims. Something for everyone!
Prayers are answered — the sun is shining!
Do you have the Image of Divine Mercy displayed in your home, as Jesus requested? Glenn LaFreniere from Holy Disciples Parish in Watertown, Connecticut, has an array to choose from. You can also shop online at ShopMercy.org.
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 9:45 a.m.
Getting ready for the 1 p.m. Divine Mercy Sunday Liturgy are Br. Paul, MIC, Br. Jacob, MIC, and Br. Alex, MIC. Be sure and watch LIVE starting with our Pre-Show at 12 Noon on EWTN!
One of the highlights of the weekend is the prayer banner composed of thousands of pieces of cloth with prayer intentions for Divine Mercy Sunday sent in from across the United States and Canada.
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 10 a.m.
Br. Ryan Asensio, MIC, is the emcee for the "Field Show" of spiritual presentations prior to the 1 p.m. Liturgy. Divine Mercy had played a big role in his walk with God, he said, since he’d had a big conversion, a big return to the faith in 2016, during the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, an initiative of the late Holy Father Pope Francis, whose funeral was held yesterday in Rome.
Among the speakers is Sister Deirdre "Dede" Byrne, POSC, an active missionary sister and superior of her community, the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts, in Washington, D.C. She surveyed her work as a healthcare professional and military officer in response to natural disasters and catastrophes. “We cannot love without suffering,” she said, and yet “love is the most precious part of our being.” The sister of Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Sr. Dede bore witness to the invaluable graces we can receive through Eucharistic Adoration, strengthening us to both endure suffering and to live love. “It was before the Most Blessed Sacrament that I found the love of the Lord,” Sr. Dede testified. And Our Lady can help us come to God, receive His grace, and change the world. “God is the door to pure love, but Our Lady is the doorknob.”
Next, pilgrims heard from Dr. Bryan Thatcher, the founder of the Marian Fathers’ apostolate Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy (EADM). “We have to take that devotion to the Divine Mercy and let it sink in and penetrate into our hearts,” said Dr. Thatcher. The rays of Divine Mercy, famously depicted in the Divine Mercy Image, “have to come out of our hearts. We have to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.” Dr. Thatcher spoke of the essential role of forgiveness in our spiritual lives, in allowing the grace of God fully into our hearts. “Saint Faustina wrote that we resemble God most when we forgive our neighbor,” Dr. Thatcher explained. He also shared with the pilgrims the work EADM is doing alongside the Marian Fathers in the Philippines.
Soloist Ashley Nemeh sang a moving rendition of “The Prayer.” Ashley will also sing during the Divine Mercy Sunday Liturgy.
Next, Nermine Rubin, founder of Water4Mercy, spoke. She shared how her consecration to Jesus through Mary had opened her heart to help bring water to communities in Africa that were facing slowed or stalled development for want of easy access to clean, safe water for drinking and agriculture. Our Lady, Nermine said, “knows how to raise you!” Nermine looked to the example of St. Veronica, whose work of mercy toward Jesus on the road to Calvary — offering Him her veil to wipe His face and, in some renditions, offering Him a drink — is memorialized in the Sixth Station of the Cross. “Veronica was not compelled to help Jesus,” said Nermine, “she jumped in."
The annual Pre-Show on EWTN was hosted by Fr. Chris Alar, MIC and Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC.
The celebrant and homilist was Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, vicar provincial, vocations director for the Marians, and the author of 20 books. including the international bestseller Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father(Marian Press, 2020).
Father Calloway summoned his audience to make their own the inscription at the base of the Divine Mercy Image: “Jesus, I trust in You.” Reflecting on the 25 years since the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, the Secretary and Apostle of the Divine Mercy, Fr. Calloway pointed out that everyone present at the Mass today was declared blessed by our Lord in the Gospel reading for the day (see Jn 20:19-31): “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” “Let us rejoice that you have been declared blessed today!” he said. “Let us move forward as apostles of mercy.” He encouraged the congregation to pray for the Church in this time of transition, as we mourn the death of Pope Francis. We should pray, he said, for the cardinals gathered in Rome, and for the election of a holy pope, a man of mercy, virtue, and true Catholic faith. “We are being given an opportunity to start afresh, to be renewed as individuals and as a Church.”
Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC, rector of the National Shrine, administers Holy Communion. Thousands gathered for the Divine Mercy Liturgy, braving the cold, wind, and rain.
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 4:00 p.m.
Following the sung Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, it is time to say goodbye. A dash to the Gift Tent for one last browse and then on to the buses and cars, just beating the rain. Safe journey home, everyone!
Divine Mercy Weekend 2025 has come to a glorious close! We say in unison, "Jesus, I Trust in You!" {shopmercy-ad}
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