Divine Mercy Sunday question

[Cathmomof6]

Please help me understand this as I am trying to learn more about Divine Mercy Sunday!! I have just completed the ninth day of the divine Chaplet novena. The website that I was using says that now on mercy Sunday to “Go to confession, attend Mass, and receive Holy Communion then all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away”. My parish is having confession tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 and then devotions at 3 pm. I plan on attending 8:30 mass and receiving communion then but my problem is in regards to confession. Tomorrow my 5 week old son will be baptized at 1pm. We are just having the ceremony and the celebration will be the following Sunday as my older daughter will be making her first communion then. I really wanted to go to confession and devotions after baptism, but one of the godparents is coming from out of town, and I feel bad just leaving right away for confession and devotions. I feel like I should invite her over to our house for awhile or something - not just ditch her right away after the short ceremony!! I did make my last confession on April 14 but not sure if it had to be on Mercy Sunday???

Regardless, I am really disappointed. We have so much going on with first communions and Easter and graduations and birthdays that this was the only weekend my son could be baptized before June!!!

Any advice or clarification???

 

[ccmcmg]

Please help me understand this as I am trying to learn more about Divine Mercy Sunday!! I have just completed the ninth day of the divine Chaplet novena. The website that I was using says that now on mercy Sunday to “Go to confession, attend Mass, and receive Holy Communion then all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away”. My parish is having confession tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 and then devotions at 3 pm. I plan on attending 8:30 mass and receiving communion then but my problem is in regards to confession. Tomorrow my 5 week old son will be baptized at 1pm. We are just having the ceremony and the celebration will be the following Sunday as my older daughter will be making her first communion then. I really wanted to go to confession and devotions after baptism, but one of the godparents is coming from out of town, and I feel bad just leaving right away for confession and devotions. I feel like I should invite her over to our house for awhile or something - not just ditch her right away after the short ceremony!! I did make my last confession on April 14 but not sure if it had to be on Mercy Sunday???

Regardless, I am really disappointed. We have so much going on with first communions and Easter and graduations and birthdays that this was the only weekend my son could be baptized before June!!!

Any advice or clarification???

Congratulations on the new baby boy and upcoming first communion for your daughter! What an exciting time.

My bishop, to whom I confessed today, said that a confession made during the Octave of Easter would accomodate. Is there a chance to find a nearby parish (even if not your own) that you could make to confession today?

If not, please stay for Confession. Perhaps your priest could hear your quick/short confession before the baptism if possible.

Also, what a great time to witness to the power of the Divine Mercy to your fellow Catholic (godparent). Ask her to join you!

 

[ajecphotos]

Why not invite the person to go with you to Divine Mercy!

I went to confession today and going to Divine Mercy tomorrow

 

[Sirach2]

Please help me understand this as I am trying to learn more about Divine Mercy Sunday!! I have just completed the ninth day of the divine Chaplet novena. The website that I was using says that now on mercy Sunday to “Go to confession, attend Mass, and receive Holy Communion then all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away”.

I did make my last confession on April 14 but not sure if it had to be on Mercy Sunday???

There is no requirement to go to confession on Mercy Sunday. Here is the ruling from the Vatican:

Three conditions for the plenary indulgence

And 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 honor 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!").

As you will notice, the “usual conditions” are the only requirements. Usual conditions for confession allow for 20 days either before or 20 days after the indulgenced act. Having gone to confession on April 14th means you’re covered, dear. Be at peace. Just be sure to recite the Our Father, the Creed, and a prayer to the merciful Jesus in front of the Blessed Sacrament after you go to communion.

To me, it is unclear whether the Our Father and Creed suffices for prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, so to be sure, I would do both. Prayer for the Holy Father can be simply an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

 

[Dorothy]

There is no requirement to go to confession on Mercy Sunday. Here is the ruling from the Vatican:

Three conditions for the plenary indulgence

And 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 honor 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!").

As you will notice, the “usual conditions” are the only requirements. Usual conditions for confession allow for 20 days either before or 20 days after the indulgenced act. Having gone to confession on April 14th means you’re covered, dear. Be at peace. Just be sure to recite the Our Father and the Creed in front of the Blessed Sacrament after you go to communion.

That is good information about confession being done either 20 days before or after the indulgenced act.

Thank you!

 

[ccmcmg]

For the record, the message of the Divine Mercy is different than the plenary indulgence; however, a plenary indulgence may be received. But the Mercy message is even a greater one, and it dispenses with the large hurdle of ‘free from attachment to venial sin’.

thedivinemercy.org/celebrate/greatgrace/graces.php

Extraordinary Graces
What graces are available and how do we receive them?

In her Diary, St. Faustina records a special promise given to her by Jesus. He told her to communicate it to the whole world:

My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy (699).
In three places in her Diary, St. Faustina records our Lord’s promises of specific, extraordinary graces:

I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (1109).

Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (300).

The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699).
To receive these graces, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration) by making a good confession beforehand and staying in the state of grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy.

By these conditions, our Lord is emphasizing the value of confession and Holy Communion as miracles of mercy. The Eucharist is Jesus, Himself, the Living God, longing to pour Himself as Mercy into our hearts.

In addition, our Lord says through St. Faustina that we are to perform acts of mercy:

“Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy” (742).

“The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive” (1578).
The worthy reception of the Eucharist on Divine Mercy Sunday is sufficient to obtain the extraordinary graces promised by Jesus. A plenary indulgence, obtained by fulfilling the usual conditions, also is available.

 

[Sirach2]

That is good information about confession being done either 20 days before or after the indulgenced act.

Thank you!

It might be a good idea to bookmark this instruction about 20 days before or after, from the Apostolic Penitentiary posted on EWTN.

 

[z_0101]

The confession should be done 20 days before or after as per the norms.

Please refer to the following EWTN link regarding this: Devine Mercy: Summary of the Decree of Indulgence (EWTN)

Read section II, second bullet point - if your church has adoration, you may still be able to fulfill the obligations for the indulgence. I have such a Holy Hour late tonight and I’m certainly going to pray the chaplet, add the intentions of the Holy Father to my normal prayers, and pray the Divine Office which in itself caries an indulgence when prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.

 

[ccmcmg]

The confession should be done 20 days before or after as per the norms.

Please refer to the following EWTN link regarding this: Devine Mercy: Summary of the Decree of Indulgence (EWTN)

Read section II, second bullet point - if your church has adoration, you may still be able to fulfill the obligations for the indulgence. I have such a Holy Hour late tonight and I’m certainly going to pray the chaplet, add the intentions of the Holy Father to my normal prayers, and pray the Divine Office which in itself caries an indulgence when prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.

The usual conditions under point 1, still apply, for the plenary indulgence. These just are the additional specifics for this indulgence.

 

[Sirach2]

For the record, the message of the Divine Mercy is different than the plenary indulgence; however, a plenary indulgence may be received. But the Mercy message is even a greater one, and it dispenses with the large hurdle of ‘free from attachment to venial sin’.

thedivinemercy.org/celebrate/greatgrace/graces.php

I noticed the very last paragraph in your link said this:

The worthy reception of the Eucharist on Divine Mercy Sunday is sufficient to obtain the extraordinary graces promised by Jesus. A plenary indulgence, obtained by fulfilling the usual conditions, also is available.

We must always listen to the Church first and foremost, and the Vatican decree calls for “usual conditions.” The Marians also note that the indulgence may be received under the usual conditions, and attachment to venial sin has not been shown to be an exception in their article.

Let’s trust that those who love the Lord and worthily receive Communion on D.M. Sunday, are in the spiritual frame of mind that is not attached to sin. Perhaps there is little to worry about.

 

[Jon_S_1]

Please help me understand this as I am trying to learn more about Divine Mercy Sunday!! I have just completed the ninth day of the divine Chaplet novena. The website that I was using says that now on mercy Sunday to “Go to confession, attend Mass, and receive Holy Communion then all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away”. My parish is having confession tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 and then devotions at 3 pm. I plan on attending 8:30 mass and receiving communion then but my problem is in regards to confession. Tomorrow my 5 week old son will be baptized at 1pm. We are just having the ceremony and the celebration will be the following Sunday as my older daughter will be making her first communion then. I really wanted to go to confession and devotions after baptism, but one of the godparents is coming from out of town, and I feel bad just leaving right away for confession and devotions. I feel like I should invite her over to our house for awhile or something - not just ditch her right away after the short ceremony!! I did make my last confession on April 14 but not sure if it had to be on Mercy Sunday???

Regardless, I am really disappointed. We have so much going on with first communions and Easter and graduations and birthdays that this was the only weekend my son could be baptized before June!!!

Any advice or clarification???

I’m no expert in this area, but I believe you are incorrect to say " all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away"

If you mean past sins, fine, but the wording looks like it refers to future sins (at least someone may interpret that way) as well which is not in line with Catholic teaching. You can’t do Divine Mercy Sunday this week and then abort your baby next week without consequence.

Just want to make sure that’s clear.

 

[Sirach2]

I’m no expert in this area, but I believe you are incorrect to say " all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away"

If you mean past sins, fine, but the wording looks like it refers to future sins (at least someone may interpret that way) as well which is not in line with Catholic teaching. You can’t do Divine Mercy Sunday this week and then abort your baby next week without consequence.

Just want to make sure that’s clear.

I had the feeling that’s what she meant to say, Jon.

 

[ccmcmg]

We must always listen to the Church first and foremost, and the Vatican decree calls for “usual conditions.” The Marians also note that the indulgence may be received under the usual conditions, and attachment to venial sin has not been shown to be an exception in their article.

Let’s trust that those who love the Lord and worthily receive Communion on D.M. Sunday, are in the spiritual frame of mind that is not attached to sin. Perhaps there is little to worry about.

To my understanding, it’s actually difficult to be free from attachment to sin, which is one reason these extraordinary graces are so important.

As for listening to our Church, She obviously holds Divine Mercy in high regard, or it would not be acknowledged, let alone celebrated with growing fanfare. While it is not a deposit of faith, it’s clearly encouraged by the Church. I will listen to my Savior through these graces and message of Divine Mercy.

I’m just trying to differentiate between the Graces of Divine Mercy Sunday, and the plenary indulgence.

 

[Sirach2]

While we’re on the subject of “free from attachment to venial sins,” here is another good article to bookmark that one of our members posted from the Apostolic Penitentiary.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=6739600&postcount=8

More recently, in the grant of an indulgence for the Year of the Eucharist, the Apostolic Penitentiary restated the conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence. However, when speaking of special conditions for those who are infirm, the official English translation reads:

…] as long as they are totally free from any desire to relapse into sin, as has been stated above.

We may treat the more “lenient” view as common teaching since the Church clearly intends to grant plenary indulgences that can be obtained by the faithful every day. It would not seem reasonable to do this if it were almost impossible to gain them in practice.

We may therefore encourage people to carry out the works prescribed for the gaining of a plenary indulgence (including, for many, a return to the sacrament of confession) without discouraging them by the rigorist opinion that a plenary indulgence can scarcely ever be gained in fact. **It is also a good thing to pray before doing the indulgenced work, asking God to take away all affection for venial sin and conceiving in our hearts a hatred of any sin since all sins displease God who loves us so much.
**

 

[z_0101]

The confession should be done 20 days before or after as per the norms.

Please refer to the following EWTN link regarding this: Devine Mercy: Summary of the Decree of Indulgence (EWTN)

Read section II, second bullet point - if your church has adoration, you may still be able to fulfill the obligations for the indulgence. I have such a Holy Hour late tonight and I’m certainly going to pray the chaplet, add the intentions of the Holy Father to my normal prayers, and pray the Divine Office which in itself caries an indulgence when prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.

The usual conditions under point 1, still apply, for the plenary indulgence. These just are the additional specifics for this indulgence.

There is a lot of discussion about this…

HOWEVER< I must point out that the word “OR” is the first word in the second point of section ii AND that EWTN has made a point of using the “Bold” type face for the word “OR”

Perhaps you would find Dr. Marshall’s interpretation interesting:
Why Divine Mercy Sunday is Better Than a Plenary Indulgence he has appeared upon EWTN A Journey Home so I think he has some conformance with the teachings of the church given that EWTN tends to be very conservative about such appearances.

MIND YOU<<if we would like to go deeper into this, then, I would ask that you start a new thread so that we don’t hijack this one. (^_^)

 

[Sirach2]

There is a lot of discussion about this…

HOWEVER< I must point out that the word “OR” is the first word in the second point of section ii AND that EWTN has made a point of using the “Bold” type face for the word “OR”

You are correct Z, and EWTN is merely repeating verbatim what Pope JPII had said in his declaration regarding the plenary indulgence granted on this special Feast. The word OR gives an exception to those who have no Divine Mercy devotions in their locality that would make it impossible for them to obtain the indulgence. The word OR gives them the latitude to say the prayers requested by the Pope in front of the Blessed Sacrament where such devotions are lacking.

Regrettably, there is hardly a parish in my area that has D.M. devotions.

 

[z_0101]

Regrettably, there is hardly a parish in my area that has D.M. devotions.

I’m sorry, I’ll add to my prayers too tonight a request to extend this to more people, especially for your parish.

 

[Cathmomof6]

Could someone please explain in VERY simple terms what exactly is a plenary indulgence? Some of these quotes are going a little over my head!

I am going to try to make it to confession and devotions tomorrow but if that doesn’t work out, I will definitely say the Our Father, Creed, and “Merciful Jesus, I trust in You” after receiving Communion

The quotation I noted above is exactly what I found on a website when I searched for divine mercy novena, but I did think that sounded kind of unlikely! So all PAST sins would be forgiven?

 

[Sirach2]

Could someone please explain in VERY simple terms what exactly is a plenary indulgence? Some of these quotes are going a little over my head!

I am going to try to make it to confession and devotions tomorrow but if that doesn’t work out, I will definitely say the Our Father, Creed, and “Merciful Jesus, I trust in You” after receiving Communion

The quotation I noted above is exactly what I found on a website when I searched for divine mercy novena, but I did think that sounded kind of unlikely! So all PAST sins would be forgiven?

No, a plenary does not forgive sin… confession does that, which is why it is a requirement for gaining a plenary. But it DOES remove all temporal punishment due to your past sins, so that you go straight to heaven and not to purgatory if you die after receiving the indulgence.

However, it is an excellent practice to gain a plenary each time you go to confession. You need only choose what the Church allows for gaining it, such as praying a rosary in church, reading the bible for a half hour, visiting the Blessed Sacrament for a half hour, or praying stations of the cross in church, etc. Keep in mind, that in addition to performing the indulgenced grant, you need to have confessed within 20 days before or after, receive holy communion, and offer prayers for the Pontiff’s intentions, as we explained before.

That’s why I don’t understand why everyone is making a huge deal about this, since I regularly gain plenaries at least once monthly, which takes care of all temporal punishment due to the sins I have committed since my last confession and performing the grant of my choice to gain a new plenary indulgence. Usually, it is just praying the rosary in church a half hour before Mass after having confessed.

 

[Memaw]

I’m no expert in this area, but I believe you are incorrect to say " all your sins for your whole life will be forgiven and all the punishment due to them will be wiped away"

If you mean past sins, fine, but the wording looks like it refers to future sins (at least someone may interpret that way) as well which is not in line with Catholic teaching. You can’t do Divine Mercy Sunday this week and then abort your baby next week without consequence.

Just want to make sure that’s clear.

Thanks Jon. I imagine she meant to say all our past sins. Confession would take care of the sins, the Indulgence would only cover the atonement, reparation due for our past sins. God Bless, Memaw