The Marian Fathers extend a warm invitation to come to Eden Hill on April 26 and 27 to experience this annual celebration. Admission is free. Online bus registration has closed, but private vehicles are welcome with no registration required. Details here.
View this year's Divine Mercy Weekend program.
Read: Thousands expected at the National Shrine for Divine Mercy Weekend 2025
Questions about Divine Mercy Sunday? We have the answers!
Welcome to Divine Mercy Weekend!
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 6:30 a.m.
A gray and rainy start to the morning, but nothing will dampen the spirits of pilgrims to Eden Hill today! Plus there are plenty of tents to shelter from the rain.
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 8:30 a.m.
Pilgrims are arriving, directed by our expert Parking volunteers!
The Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine, where the Vigil Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday will celebrated today at 4:00 p.m.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in Vatican City, some of our Marian priests attended this morning's
funeral Mass for Pope Francis. May the Holy Father rest in peace!
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 9:45 a.m.
Rain? What rain? Happy pilgrims awaiting the Saturday Conference.
This is the third time
Pat Schomber, a parishioner at St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish in
Belleville, Illinois, has been to the National Shrine. She’s here with her husband Joe. “We have met Fr. Chris a couple of times and enjoy the talks, and the Shrine church,” she says.
In advance of their Conference talks,
Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC (above) and
Fr. Chris Alar, MIC (below), sign copies of their books. You can get yours at
ShopMercy.org.“We just love to be here. It's the best day of the year, no matter what, rain or shine,” says
Tuoi Nguyen from St. Anne Parish in
Sturbridge, Massachusetts. She's here with many members of her family including daughter Rosie. “The teaching of the Divine Mercy with all the priests — here, Fr. Don and Fr. Chris — has helped me through through the pain and suffering of the loss of my husband three years ago."
This is the second Divine Mercy Weekend in a row for
Mary and John Grab from St. Peter Parish in
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Married 37 years, they have been devoted to the message of Divine Mercy since their two kids were young. “Mercy is free,” Mary says. “You don’t have to earn it. It’s out there for everybody."
Traveling al the way from St. Dominic Savio Parish in
Los Angeles, California, are sisters
Joan Tram, Rosa Ho, Hollie Ngyuen, and
Yen Lee.Divine Mercy Conference: "Living as Pilgrims of Hope"
The Divine Mercy Weekend Conference opened with an energetic talk on the Sacraments by
Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, provincial superior, based on his new book from Marian Press,
Understanding the Sacraments: God's Grace Guaranteed. “What’s the number one function of the priest?” he asked. “The Sacraments! It’s number one — even above everything else. And this is what Divine Mercy Sunday is all about — it’s just a return to the Sacraments.”
The Sacraments provide us Catholics with the equivalent of a supersonic jet in the spiritual life, he explained, and would speed us to God like nothing else on earth. Surveying the complicated world we live in today, he spotlighted the problem of the massive drop-off in infant Baptisms after the Second Vatican Council as the source for so many of our other problems.
“The Sacraments are not magic spells,” he noted, but they are the ordinary means through which we receive the divine life, theological virtues, and the grace of God healing, repairing, and building on our human nature to make us holy sons and daughters of God.
“What we say about Our Lady, we can also say about the Church, and about us,”
Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, explained. He offered an overview of the four Marian dogmas — Mother of God, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption — and explained how Our Lady is the Mother of Hope in this Jubilee of Hope — a fitting topic on the same day that Pope Francis was laid to rest in one of the oldest Marian Shrines in the Christian heritage, the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
“Mothers give hope!” Fr. Calloway said. “Everyone needs a mother. You’re not robots. You come from a mom! All of us! And a mother always gives hope.” Building off his book,
The Virgin Mary and Theology of the Body, Fr. Calloway explored how Our Lady serves us both as a model and as an intercessor in these strange times in which we live, offering a witness to the blessings of motherhood, femininity, and a true love of God and neighbor.
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 1:30 p.m.
Father Brian McGrath, pastor of Catholic parishes in
Lee, Otis, and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, never misses Divine Mercy Weekend on Eden Hill. "It's one of the greatest events in the Berkshires, and it's in my parish," he says. "So many graces!"
Maria Luisa, a member of Ascension Parish in
Elmhurst, New York, has been coming to Eden Hill for Divine Mercy weekend for six years. She proudly shared she’d brought a busload of pilgrims with her today, and talked about the enormous Divine Mercy statue and shrine that welcomes pilgrims in the Philippines. When asked what she’d tell people who’d never heard of Divine Mercy, she said, "I'd tell them about the great miracle shared with us through Divine Mercy!"
Dress rehearsal for tomorrow's EWTN pre-show, hosted by
Fr. Chris Alar, MIC and
Fr. Joseph Roesch, MIC. Remember to tune in LIVE at 12 Noon ET on EWTN, with the Divine Mercy Liturgy to follow at 1:00 p.m.
Christina, a member of St. Mary’s Parish in
Jersey City, New Jersey, said, “It’s my devotion to visit the Divine Mercy. We are very very grateful visiting, no matter what the weather is."
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
The lines for Confessions are long but move steadily. Remember, to receive the
Extraordinary Graces promised by Jesus, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or today's Vigil celebration) by making a good Confession beforehand and being in the state of grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy.
It was the first visit to the National Shrine for
Nathan and
David, members of the Parish of the Resurrection in
Nashua, New Hampshire. “Our church was hosting a pilgrimage here today,” Nathan said. They were joined by about 50 of their fellow parishioners. “It’s worth a visit! It’s beautiful, definitely a very good place for reflection on the Crucifixion going through the Stations of the Cross.” David was familiar with St. Faustina and her apparitions, especially the giving of the world-famous Divine Mercy Image (see
Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 47-48). “I actually pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet almost every day," he said.
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 3:00 p.m.
The Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Tent is prepared for the procession to the Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine, for the recitation of the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 4:00 p.m.
The procession begins for the Vigil Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday!
The celebrant of the Mass was the Rector of the National Shrine,
Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC. “On this 25th anniversary,” Fr. Matthew said in his opening remarks, “we are thankful for all the graces which the Church has received through the feast of the Divine Mercy and canonization of St. Faustina, established by Pope St. John Paul II in the 2000th year of Our Lord. During this Jubilee Year of Hope, may your pilgrimage here deepen your trust in the Lord. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, the octave day of Easter, the Lord completely opens the floodgates and pours out a whole ocean of graces upon those who approach the fount of His mercy, offering complete forgiveness of sins and punishment to those who have gone to Confession and received Holy Communion today. We thank God for providing us poor sinners a refuge and shelter in the very depths of His tender and unfathomable mercy.”
The Thomas Aquinas College Choir provided music at the Mass. The homilist was
Fr. Daniel Klimek (right). “The theologian Scott Hahn says that when a priest absolves sins, especially mortal sins, he is resurrecting the dead,” said Fr. Daniel. “He is resurrecting the spiritually dead. It is such a sacred truth.”
He exhorted the congregation to have the humility to acknowledge their own sinfulness, to recognize that none of us deserves the Divine Mercy, and thereby experience the freedom of relying on the grace of God. Citing the example of St. Catherine of Siena, he explained that we can both recognize how little we are before God and also have the confidence in the gifts He has given us to do great things in the world.
We should go to Confession with confidence, he said, since priests have heard every sin, every strangeness, and so ours will be nothing new. “We need to grow into a 'maximialist' spirituality,” said Fr. Daniel, taking advantage of the graces, devotions, and spiritual resources given us by Heaven and the Church.
Mercifully (no pun intended), the rain held off until the Offertory, when the heavens opened. But it subsided and the sun peeked out from dark clouds in time for Holy Communion. And the rain held off until the final blessing, when Fr. Matthew thanked all for their endurance.
Saturday, April 26, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
As pilgrims, soggy but elated, head to their buses and cars, it is raining again,. Here's to clearer skies tomorrow!
Good evening to all and Blessed Feast!
{shopmercy-ad}
