1 Day Until Canonization

Jesus dwells among the men and women “honored with the name of Christian” (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 15). All are able to meet him in the Scriptures, in prayer and in service of their neighbors….it is becoming every day a more urgent duty to repair the scandal of the division among Christians, strengthening unity through dialogue, prayer in common and witness. It is not a matter of ignoring differences and problems in the detachment of a lukewarm relativism; that would be like covering the wound without healing it, with the risk of interrupting the journey before reaching the goal of full communion.

-Blessed John Paul II, Message to Young People for the 12th World Youth Day

Today we conclude our novena by remembering the souls who have become lukewarm. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

2 Days Until Canonization

May you have a great “thirst” to save souls, helping every brother and sister to discover the “not yet” and the eternal “life above” towards which we are all journeying. The eternal future is built here and now, in time with our daily efforts.

-Blessed John Paul II, 2002

Today we continue our novena by remembering the souls who are detained in purgatory. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

3 Days Until Canonization

…in giving birth to Jesus, the Blessed Virgin gave the world the supreme Witness of God's merciful love. In this plan of salvation she was not a mere instrument, but indeed a docile cooperator: divine Mercy finds perfect resonance in Mary. In her Immaculate Heart, God's tenderness, his desire to forgive sinners and the throbbing of his fatherly compassion are fittingly reflected.

Mary's motherhood was fulfilled on Calvary where divine Mercy accomplished the supreme act of Redemption in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. At that tragic and glorious hour, Mary became the Mother of Mercy forever.

-Blessed John Paul II, 1999 

Today we continue our novena by remembering the souls who especially venerate and glorify Christ’s Divine Mercy. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

4 Days Until Canonization

How important children are in the eyes of Jesus! We could even say that the Gospel is full of the truth about children. The whole of the Gospel could actually be read as the “Gospel of children.”

-Blessed John Paul II, Letter to Children

Today we continue our novena by remembering the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

5 Days Until Canonization

Protect your Church and the Successor of Peter,
to whom you, Good Shepherd, have entrusted
the task of feeding your flock.
Grant that the Church…may flourish
and grow richer in the fruits of holiness.

Teach us to love your Mother, Mary,
as you loved her.
Give us strength to proclaim
your word with courage
in the work of the new evangelization,
so that the world may know new hope.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America,
pray for us!

-Blessed John Paul II, Ecclesia in America

Today we continue our novena by remembering the souls of those who have separated themselves from the Church. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

6 Days Until Canonization

Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. 

-Blessed John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis

On this Easter Monday, we continue our novena by remembering all of those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Jesus. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

7 Days Until Canonization

Christ came to bring joy: joy to children, joy to parents, joy to families and to friends, joy to workers and to scholars, joy to the sick and to the elderly, joy to all humanity. In a true sense, joy is the keynote of the Christian message and the recurring motif of the Gospels. Recall the first words of the angel to Mary: “Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1: 28). And at the birth of Jesus, the angels announced to the shepherds: "Listen, I bring you news of great joy, joy to be shared by all people” (Lk 2: 10). Years later as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt, “the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices. ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord’!” (Lk 19: 37-38). We are told that some Pharisees in the crowd complained, saying: “Master, stop your disciples.” But Jesus answered:  “I tell you, if they were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Lk 19 :39-40).

Are not those words of Jesus still true today? If we are silent about the joy that comes from knowing Jesus, the very stones of our cities will cry out! For we are an Easter people and “Alleluia” is our song.

-Blessed John Paul II, 1979

On this Easter Sunday, we continue our novena by remembering all devout and faithful souls. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

8 Days Until Canonization

We pray to you for our
brothers and sisters who have
answered "yes" to your
call to the priesthood,
to the consecrated life and
to the missions.

May their lives be renewed day by
day, to become a living Gospel.

Merciful and holy Lord,
continue to send new laborers
into the harvest of your Kingdom!

Assist those whom you call
to follow you in our day;
contemplating your face,
may they respond with joy
to the wondrous mission
that you entrust to them
for the good of your People
and of all men and women.

                 -Blessed John Paul II, 2004

Today, we continue our novena by remembering the souls of priests and religious. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

9 Days Until Canonization

Good Friday is a day of mystery in the Church. We mourn on this day, yet we know that the sadness in Christ’s suffering leads to great joy. We remember Christ’s trials, yet we do so in anticipation of his glorious Resurrection. We fast and abstain, yet we do so knowing that the feasting will come soon. This is the mystery of Christ’s mercy, which seems to shine most beautifully when humanity is at its worst.

Today we are nine days away from Divine Mercy Sunday, and we embark on a period of time in which Jesus asks us to pray a novena to His Divine Mercy for all souls. This devotion to Jesus’s Divine Mercy is something that Blessed John Paul II promoted during his pontificate, and he officially declared the Second Sunday of Easter to be “Divine Mercy Sunday” throughout the Church. He providentially passed away during the vigil of this feast, and next Sunday we will celebrate the Divine Mercy of the Lord with his canonization.

Because of his devotion to Jesus’s Divine Mercy, we at the Shrine decided that it would be appropriate to prepare for Blessed John Paul II’s canonization by praying the Divine Mercy Novena Jesus shared with St. Faustina Kowalska. For the next 9 days, we will pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, offering up our prayers for the different souls that Jesus instructed us to remember.

So for Day 1, we begin by reflecting: 

Christ - the very fulfillment of the messianic prophecy - by becoming the incarnation of the love that is manifested with particular force with regard to the suffering, the unfortunate and sinners, makes present and thus more fully reveals the Father, who is God “rich in mercy.”

-Blessed John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia

Today, we begin our novena by remembering all of mankind, especially all sinners. Let us pray our chaplet, bringing these souls to Jesus and immersing them in the ocean of His mercy. 

The Rays Of Your Divine Mercy Restore Hope

"Jesus, I trust in you." This prayer, dear to so many of the devout, clearly expresses the attitude with which we too would like to abandon ourselves trustfully in your hands, O Lord, our only Savior.

You are burning with the desire to be loved and those in tune with the sentiments of your heart learn how to build the new civilization of love. A simple act of abandonment is enough to overcome the barriers of darkness and sorrow, of doubt and desperation. The rays of your divine mercy restore hope, in a special way, to those who feel overwhelmed by the burden of sin.

Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us always to have this trust in your Son, our Redeemer. Help us too, St. Faustina, whom we remember today with special affection. Fixing our weak gaze on the divine Savior’s face, we would like to repeat with you:  "Jesus, I trust in you." Now and forever. Amen.

-Blessed John Paul II (Divine Mercy Sunday, 2001)

Jesus, Love and Mercy Personified

This coming weekend the Church celebrates “Divine Mercy Sunday.” On this special day, we will contemplate God's mysterious love in sending His only Son to die for us. We will contemplate the redemptive power of Jesus’ words and actions as He dwelt among us on Earth. And we will contemplate the message Jesus left with his faithful servant, St. Faustina Kowalska: “My daughter say that I am love and mercy personified” (Diary, p. 374).

Jesus called for the Divine Mercy devotion and feast through St. Faustina. During her canonization Mass in 2000, Blessed John Paul II announced that “Divine Mercy Sunday” will be celebrated throughout the Church each year on the Second Sunday of Easter. In its readings, “the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings,” the Holy Father said.

Blessed John Paul II had a beautifully powerful devotion to St. Faustina and to the Divine Mercy that Jesus chose to reveal through her. It may have been providential, then, that he passed away during the vigil of the Second Sunday of Easter. The last gift the Holy Father left was the Regina Caeli message for Divine Mercy Sunday:

As a gift to humanity, which sometimes seems bewildered and overwhelmed by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, the Risen Lord offers his love that pardons, reconciles and reopens hearts to love. It is a love that converts hearts and gives peace. How much the world needs to understand and accept Divine Mercy!

Blessed John Paul II was beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday, only just a year ago.