This year 2021, the Feast of Divine Mercy is on April 11th.

In Catholicism, the Divine Mercy is a devotion to Jesus Christ associated with the apparition of Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowalska. This devotion to Jesus as the Divine Mercy was based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, who in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the extraordinary revelations and messages she received about God's mercy.

In 1931, our Lord appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw Jesus clothed in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing and His left hand touching the area of His heart from which two large rays came forth- one red and the other pale. St. Faustina asked the Lord about the meaning of the rays in the image. She heard these words in reply:

The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (299). By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works (742).

In His revelation to St. Faustina, Our Lord asked for a special prayer and meditation on His Passion each afternoon at the three o'clock hour, the hour that recalls His death on the cross. This hour is called the "hour of Divine Mercy" or the "hour of great mercy". It is at this moment of " hour of great Mercy " that it was said mercy is opened wide for every soul. Our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to recognize that His endless mercy is greater than our sins, so let us call upon Him with Trust and receive His mercy.

In preparation for the Feast of the Divine Mercy, let us pray the Novena to the Divine Mercy (nine days of prayers which would begin on a Good Friday and leading up to the Sunday after Easter.) to strengthen us and fill our hearts with graces that each one of us need at this time.

All of us have experienced a certain degree of challenges and trials in life lately as a result of the current Covid 19 pandemic. Some of us have lost jobs, their homes, lost their loved ones from illnesses or have been in social isolation since the start of pandemic in March 2020.

It is for those reasons that I decided to write this article to turn people's attention to the coming Feast of Divine of Mercy and encourage everyone to pray for the whole world as well as for our own intentions.

And I would like also to offer our prayers/ petitions to the Divine Mercy to the members of the Filipino Ministry at THNOJ whose mothers had passed away in the past month. I would like to let them know they were not alone in their grief and moment of loss. So, to Evelyn, Hermie, Beverly, and Leah / Greg's families, my prayers to the Divine Mercy are with you all and your families. May Our Lord's Divine Mercy grant eternal repose to the soul of your beloved mother.

" Eternal God in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your Mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your Holy Will, which is Love and Mercy itself." (950).

* Contributor: Susan Protacio 04-02-2021