The feast of Divine Mercy is celebrated on the Octave of Easter, that is, the Sunday after Easter Sunday. It is a special feast in which the mercy of God is effused into our souls. The feast is prepared with a novena – the Divine Mercy novena. Although the Divine Mercy novena can be done any time of the year, the Divine Mercy novena officially begins on Good Friday and ends on the eve of the feast of Divine Mercy.
The novena is easy and very simple to do. Yet, it is very efficacious. It consists of reciting the chaplet of Divine Mercy and the novena prayer for each day. On our pews in the church are red pamphlets titled “Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet” – We have been using this pamphlet for recitation of Divine Mercy chaplet twenty minutes before weekend Masses this Lenten period – When you flip open this pamphlet, the front side has the Novena to the Divine Mercy for each of the nine days. The other side of the pamphlet contains the Prayers of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
Doing the Divine Mercy novena is simple: recite the chaplet of Divine Mercy and read the prayer of the Divine Mercy novena for that particular day. As a parish, we shall do the communal Divine Mercy novena beginning twenty minutes before our liturgical celebrations: Good Friday, 20 minutes before the 3’oclock Passion of the Lord; Holy Saturday, 20 minutes before the Easter Vigil; Easter Sunday, 20 minutes before each Mass and during the weekday, 20 minutes before weekday Masses, morning and evening, ending Saturday morning 4/11/2026. You can also do the Divine Mercy novena on your own or in your family if the communal one does not suit your schedule. This weekend of Palm Sunday, more Divine Mercy pamphlets are made available at the entrances to the church for those who would like to grab a copy.
Father Ken
