On the Indulgences attached to devotions in honour of Divine Mercy
"APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY: DECREE" (published 2002/06/29) from the Vatican + Fr. Mark makes a "Divine Mercy Sundae" to illustrate the message of Mercy Sunday (Post 1 of 3)
THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST | DIVINE MERCY SUNDAYDear Friends in Christ:
Greetings on this most beautiful Divine Mercy Sunday.
Before introducing the promised posting topic, we invite you to rediscover today and share with others a quick refresh of what this very important day is all about. We are thankful to the Marians of the Immaculate Conception who are the official promoters of the authentic Divine Mercy - the message, the image, the Diary of St. Faustina, etc. who can help the world understand the basics. Click the link below for their 101:
https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/divine-mercy-sunday-basics
The theologian, Dr. Robert Stackpole notes of the message of this day (etc.) that “a faithful Catholic could largely disbelieve [in] it and not be guilty of "heresy," but one who did so would still be guilty of rashness and imprudence".1 In one sense this is true as God can often reveal the authentic nature of private revelations by granting the vision of the promises attached to them.2
Thus, today’s first post is a “repost” from “THE HOLY SEE”, the key segment is here:
a plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!");
A partial indulgence, granted to the faithful who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful Lord Jesus a legitimately approved invocation.
Readers can download that “invocation” here to use immediately or share with one other person as part of a corporeal work of mercy today:
https://saintfrancischurch.org/app/uploads/2020/04/The-Divine-Mercy-Chaplet.pdf
HERE IS THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST "CHAPLET TO THE DIVINE MERCY" TOOLKIT TO CUT / PASTE into your own document for young children to follow:
LEADER / RESPONDENT FORMAT
LEADER: + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
LEADER: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us.
RESPONDENT: I trust in You
LEADER: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us.
RESPONDENT: I trust in You
LEADER: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us.
RESPONDENT: I trust in You
LEADER: Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
RESPONDENT: Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.
LEADER: Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
RESPONDENT: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
LEADER: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
RESPONDENT: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
LEADER (on the first single bead of the Rosary): Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
Next, on the 10X on the small beads
LEADER: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion
RESPONDENT:
Have mercy on us and on the whole world.
LEADER WILL REPEAT 5 decades (USING THE ROSARY BEADS)
AFTER 5th chaplet decade: [Closing Prayers]
LEADER: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One
R: Have mercy on us and on the whole world.
LEADER: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One
R. Have mercy on us and on the whole world.
LEADER: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One
R. Have mercy on us and on the whole world.
LEADER: 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.
RESPONDENT / ALL: Jesus I Trust in You, Jesus I Trust in You, Jesus I Trust in You!
LEADER: + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
END / FINListen to Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC recite the Chaplet here for free when you download the app:
https://www.thedivinemercy.org/appFinally, try to contemplate today this final invocation that we say at the end of the Chaplet:
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.
God bless.
~ The Rosary Hour Podcast TeamPART I: INDULGENCES - A REFRESH FOR 2024
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "Indulgence" is mainly historical (in the Roman Catholic Church) and it is "grant[ed] by the Pope of remission of the temporal punishment in purgatory still due for sins after absolution."
The treasury of the Church is emptied abundantly one day a year: Divine Mercy Sunday. We'll talk about the Extraordinary promise in the next post.
We will begin first by sharing the DECREE attached to devotions in honour of Divine Mercy in the remainder of this post as put forth by Archbishop Luigi De Magistris,Tit. Archbishop of NovaMajor Pro-Penitentiary & Fr Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv., Regent. DECREE"INDULGENCES ATTACHED TO DEVOTIONS IN HONOR OF DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY"
DECREE SOURCE: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_trib_appen_doc_20020629_decree-ii_en.html
APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY— DECREEIndulgences attached to devotions in honour of Divine Mercy
"O God, your mercy knows no bounds and the treasure of your goodness is infinite..." (Prayer after the "Te Deum" Hymn) and "O God, you reveal your almighty power above all by showing mercy and forgiveness..." (Prayer for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time), in these prayers Holy Mother Church humbly and faithfully sings of Divine Mercy. Indeed, God's great patience with the human race in general and with each individual person shines out in a special way when sins and moral failures are forgiven by Almighty God Himself and the guilty are readmitted in a fatherlike way to his friendship, which they deservedly lost.
Duty of honouring Divine Mercy
The faithful with deep spiritual affection are drawn to commemorate the mysteries of divine pardon and to celebrate them devoutly. They clearly understand the supreme benefit, indeed the duty, that the People of God have to praise Divine Mercy with special prayers and, at the same time, they realize that by gratefully performing the works required and satisfying the necessary conditions, they can obtain spiritual benefits that derive from the Treasury of the Church. "The paschal mystery is the culmination of this revealing and effecting of mercy, which is able to justify man, to restore justice in the sense of that salvific order which God willed from the beginning in man, and through man, in the world" (Encyclical Letter Dives in misericordia, n. 7).
It is God's Mercy that grants supernatural sorrow and resolution to amend
Indeed, Divine Mercy knows how to pardon even the most serious sins, and in doing so it moves the faithful to perceive a supernatural, not merely psychological, sorrow for their sins so that, ever with the help of divine grace, they may make a firm resolution not to sin any more. Such spiritual dispositions undeniably follow upon the forgiveness of mortal sin when the faithful fruitfully receive the sacrament of Penance or repent of their sin with an act of perfect charity and perfect contrition, with the resolution to receive the Sacrament of Penance as soon as they can. Indeed, Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in the parable of the Prodigal Son that the sinner must confess his misery to God saying:
"Father I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Lk 15,18-19), realizing that this is a work of God, "for [he] was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found" (Lk 15,32).
Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday
And so with provident pastoral sensitivity and in order to impress deeply on the souls of the faithful these precepts and teachings of the Christian faith, the Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, moved by the consideration of the Father of Mercy, has willed that the Second Sunday of Easter be dedicated to recalling with special devotion these gifts of grace and gave this Sunday the name, "Divine Mercy Sunday" (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Decree Misericors et miserator, 5 May 2000).
The Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter narrates the wonderful things Christ the Lord accomplished on the day of the Resurrection during his first public appearance: "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you'. When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the discples were glad to see the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you'. And then he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'" (Jn 20,19-23).
Plenary Indulgence
To ensure that the faithful would observe this day with intense devotion, the Supreme Pontiff himself established that this Sunday be enriched by a plenary indulgence, as will be explained below, so that the faithful might receive in great abundance the gift of the consolation of the Holy Spirit. In this way, they can foster a growing love for God and for their neighbour, and after they have obtained God's pardon, they in turn might be persuaded to show a prompt pardon to their brothers and sisters.Pardon of others who sin against us
Thus the faithful will more closely conform to the spirit of the Gospel, receiving in their hearts the renewal that the Second Vatican Council explained and introduced:
"Mindful of the words of the Lord: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another' (Jn 13,35), Christians can yearn for nothing more ardently than to serve the men of this age with an ever growing generosity and success.... It is the Father's will that we should recognize Christ our brother in the persons of all men and love them with an effective love, in word and in deed” (Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et spes, n. 93).
Three conditions for the plenary indulgenceAnd so the Supreme Pontiff, motivated by an ardent desire to foster in Christians this devotion to Divine Mercy as much as possible in the hope of offering great spiritual fruit to the faithful, in the Audience granted on 13 June 2002, to those Responsible for the Apostolic Penitentiary, granted the following Indulgences:
a plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!");
A partial indulgence, granted to the faithful who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful Lord Jesus a legitimately approved invocation.
For those who cannot go to church or the seriously illIn addition, sailors working on the vast expanse of the sea; the countless brothers and sisters, whom the disasters of war, political events, local violence and other such causes have been driven out of their homeland; the sick and those who nurse them, and all who for a just cause cannot leave their homes or who carry out an activity for the community which cannot be postponed, may obtain a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday, if totally detesting any sin, as has been said before, and with the intention of fulfilling as soon as possible the three usual conditions, will recite the Our Father and the Creed before a devout image of Our Merciful Lord Jesus and, in addition, pray a devout invocation to the Merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in you).
If it is impossible that people do even this, on the same day they may obtain the Plenary Indulgence if with a spiritual intention they are united with those carrying out the prescribed practice for obtaining the Indulgence in the usual way and offer to the Merciful Lord a prayer and the sufferings of their illness and the difficulties of their lives, with the resolution to accomplish as soon as possible the three conditions prescribed to obtain the plenary indulgence.
** Duty of priests: inform parishioners, hear confessions, lead prayers**
"Priests who exercise pastoral ministry, especially parish priests,
- should inform the faithful in the most suitable way of the Church's salutary provision.
- They should promptly and generously be willing to hear their confessions.
- On Divine Mercy Sunday, after celebrating Mass or Vespers, or during devotions in honour of Divine Mercy, with the dignity that is in accord with the rite, they should lead the recitation of the prayers that have been given above.
- Finally, since "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5,7), when they instruct their people, priests should gently encourage the faithful to practise works of charity or mercy as often as they can, following the example of, and in obeying the commandment of Jesus Christ, as is listed for the second general concession of indulgence in the "Enchiridion Indulgentiarum".
ABOUT THIS DECREEThis Decree has perpetual force, any provision to the contrary notwithstanding.
Archbishop Luigi De Magistris,Tit. Archbishop of NovaMajor Pro-Penitentiary
Fr Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv., Regent
OTHER RESOURCES FOR DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY THIS WEEKEND & 365-DAYS-A-YEARDiary of Saint Faustina: https://www.saint-faustina.org/diary-full-text/
FR. CHRIS ALAR EXPLAINS: "PLENARY INDULGENCES" in this 101 videoPART II: EXPLORING A NEW PEDAGOGY for TEACHING PRAYERS OF THE ROSARY / DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET to CHILDREN For Divine Mercy Sunday, the Marians of the Immaculate Conception have created a fun DIVINE MERCY SUNDAE to demonstrate to children (and adults who love ice cream) the EXTRAORDINARY PROMISE OF THIS DEVOTION & FEAST. Watch Fr. Mark, the new Director of the Association for Marian Helpers explain in the following video:
ABOUT FR. MARK https://marian.org/marians/meet/mark-baron
FR. KAZ'S CHALLENGE:
In response to Fr. Kaz's solemn sung chaplet talk, the following handout is shared with our readers to think about creative ways to teach the message of Divine Mercy in our times to children and those still young in Christ.
Godparents, parents, grandparents, catechists can take a moment today to introduce the Rosary (Chaplet in French) and throughout the year (there are 364 days until next Divine Mercy Sunday) to contemplate how to share with little children the answer to the following essential question:
- "What is the Extraordinary Promise of Divine Mercy Sunday?"
- PDF created by https://saintfrancischurch.org/app/uploads/2020/04/The-Divine-Mercy-Chaplet.pdf sourcing thedivinemercy.org NEXT RHP POST TOPIC:
“THE EXTRAORDINARY PROMISE OF DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY”
FOOTNOTESHe continues: “It is overwhelmingly unlikely that a Diary which has been fully examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Church's highest doctrinal tribunal under the Pope) and by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, and has been praised and quoted repeatedly by popes, and whose author has been canonized as a "saint" (that is, as someone "full-to-overflowing" with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth) would contain serious and unqualified errors and illusions. The Holy Spirit does not abandon the Church when she is making such important acts of discernment (see Jn. 16:13; Acts 15:28). If He did we would be lost indeed!”
https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/divine-mercy-devotion-just-based-private-revelations
Our podcast will explore this difference in an upcoming post with the help of Fr. Elias Mary Mills who returns to the podcast in May to talk about the promise of the Scapular and the questions related to Fátima as we begin our future consecration journeys.