Don't miss Divine Mercy Sunday!

[fin]

Here are some resources on why it’s important to make the most of this special day:

taylormarshall.com/2012/04/divine-mercy-sunday-is-better.html

“The amazing thing about Christ’s promise to us on Divine Mercy Sunday is that the condition for detachment of sin is absent. This means that if you make a good confession and receive Holy Communion devoutly, you will receive full remission of all temporal punishment. If then you went to Confession and died after receiving Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday you would not spend one single moment in purgatory!!!”

Video series on the Divine Mercy devotion:

thedivinemercy.org/divine-mercy-matters/archives.php

And this one is a post I read on Facebook:

"…
divinemercysunday.com/mercy_sunday.htm

If you do this, God and his angels and saints will love you for all eternity, as they now do.

Moreover, at the moment of your death, you will be judged by Almighty God ONLY for those sins committed after 4/3. How incredible is that?"

 

[porthos11]

Here are some resources on why it’s important to make the most of this special day:

taylormarshall.com/2012/04/divine-mercy-sunday-is-better.html

“The amazing thing about Christ’s promise to us on Divine Mercy Sunday is that the condition for detachment of sin is absent. This means that if you make a good confession and receive Holy Communion devoutly, you will receive full remission of all temporal punishment. If then you went to Confession and died after receiving Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday you would not spend one single moment in purgatory!!!”

Video series on the Divine Mercy devotion:

thedivinemercy.org/divine-mercy-matters/archives.php

And this one is a post I read on Facebook:

"…
divinemercysunday.com/mercy_sunday.htm

If you do this, God and his angels and saints will love you for all eternity, as they now do.

Moreover, at the moment of your death, you will be judged by Almighty God ONLY for those sins committed after 4/3. How incredible is that?"

In-credible, as in hard to believe.

All we have as basis for this claim is a diary from private revelation, but indulgences are part of the power of the keys.

Therefore, I must ask, before even putting stock to such a claim: what has the Church decreed on this matter?

 

[Origen52]

Like father Groschel, I don’t fear purgatory. I honestly don’t think I’d be ready for the full beatific vision after this life. Read St Catherine of Genova’s treatise on Purgatory, not an awful place, just a place of quiet contemplation and reformation.

 

[Muzhik]

In-credible, as in hard to believe.

All we have as basis for this claim is a diary from private revelation, but indulgences are part of the power of the keys.

Therefore, I must ask, before even putting stock to such a claim: what has the Church decreed on this matter?

The Church has ruled that this apparition is worthy of belief. Since it is a private revelation, it cannot rise to the level of doctrine (which required belief), but given the great spiritual graces that have been reported by people practicing this devotion, it is being encouraged in a great many quarters.

I should note that there is a sedevacantist site that, while it has a great many valid pre-Vatican 2 prayers and devotions as well as a great deal of Holy Card artwork (which is why I occasionally visit there), they make a great deal of noise that this entire Divine Mercy stuff is demonic. Their reasoning is that the original *positio *(position paper) for St. Faustina (who was Polish) was rejected, then later approved under the Polish “pseudo-pope” John Paul 2.

The reason the original positio was rejected was that it included a cy translation of “Divine Mercy In My Soul”, Sr. Faustina’s diary. Note that it wasn’t a bad translation, it was a cy translation. Sr. Faustina wasn’t the brightest porch light on the block: she only had a 4th-grade education, and usually worked in the kitchen or the garden. It’s what made the entries in her diary so amazing. Unfortunately, to quote one commentator, “her spelling was imaginative and her grammar non-existent.” Before translating her diary from Polish into Latin, it had to be translated from Polish into Polish. The people chosen to do this tried “improving” the text. It was this result that was rejected by the Vatican, in the years before Vatican 2.

After a few years, another attempt was made. This time one of the people involved in the editing was Sr. Faustina’s sister. By comparing similar sections of the diary, they did a much better job of cleaning up the text in her diary; this second attempt was translated into Latin and the result was accepted, leading to JP2 approving the devotion and permitting the diary to be disseminated.

This group rejects Divine Mercy because it was rejected before Vatican 2 and accepted after Vatican 2. It doesn’t matter that the translation was better, since it was accepted by V2 it is demonic.

 

[Muzhik]

Like father Groschel, I don’t fear purgatory. I honestly don’t think I’d be ready for the full beatific vision after this life. Read St Catherine of Genova’s treatise on Purgatory, not an awful place, just a place of quiet contemplation and reformation.

Be advised, there are a number of saints who have been granted visions of purgatory. Assuming these visions are real and accurate, it becomes clear that purgatory has a number of levels. The lowest level is closest (spiritually if not physically) to hell. Unlike hell, though, since it is purgatory there is hope and the knowledge that at some point you will be granted the Beatific Vision. As these souls succeed in growing away from their attachments to sin and the material world, they rise through the levels where there is less torment, but torment none-the-less. The level of purgatory described by St. Catherine is the uppermost level of purgatory.

Through our prayers and sacrifices we can help these souls rise through purgatory and achieve heaven.

 

[porthos11]

The Church has ruled that this apparition is worthy of belief. Since it is a private revelation, it cannot rise to the level of doctrine (which required belief), but given the great spiritual graces that have been reported by people practicing this devotion, it is being encouraged in a great many quarters.

I should note that there is a sedevacantist site that, while it has a great many valid pre-Vatican 2 prayers and devotions as well as a great deal of Holy Card artwork (which is why I occasionally visit there), they make a great deal of noise that this entire Divine Mercy stuff is demonic. Their reasoning is that the original *positio *(position paper) for St. Faustina (who was Polish) was rejected, then later approved under the Polish “pseudo-pope” John Paul 2.

The reason the original positio was rejected was that it included a cy translation of “Divine Mercy In My Soul”, Sr. Faustina’s diary. Note that it wasn’t a bad translation, it was a cy translation. Sr. Faustina wasn’t the brightest porch light on the block: she only had a 4th-grade education, and usually worked in the kitchen or the garden. It’s what made the entries in her diary so amazing. Unfortunately, to quote one commentator, “her spelling was imaginative and her grammar non-existent.” Before translating her diary from Polish into Latin, it had to be translated from Polish into Polish. The people chosen to do this tried “improving” the text. It was this result that was rejected by the Vatican, in the years before Vatican 2.

After a few years, another attempt was made. This time one of the people involved in the editing was Sr. Faustina’s sister. By comparing similar sections of the diary, they did a much better job of cleaning up the text in her diary; this second attempt was translated into Latin and the result was accepted, leading to JP2 approving the devotion and permitting the diary to be disseminated.

This group rejects Divine Mercy because it was rejected before Vatican 2 and accepted after Vatican 2. It doesn’t matter that the translation was better, since it was accepted by V2 it is demonic.

I was referring more to the claim that the requirement of detachment from sin is somehow lifted for a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Indulgences are part of the deposit of faith, and the Catholic teaching is that they are part of the power of the Keys. They are not governed by private revelation, no matter how worthy of belief the apparition is.

Therefore, my demand stands: if a claim is made that there is an “exception” to what the Church has currently imposed, I want an ecclesiastical source. Not a saint’s diary.

 

[Origen52]

Be advised, there are a number of saints who have been granted visions of purgatory. Assuming these visions are real and accurate, it becomes clear that purgatory has a number of levels. The lowest level is closest (spiritually if not physically) to hell. Unlike hell, though, since it is purgatory there is hope and the knowledge that at some point you will be granted the Beatific Vision. As these souls succeed in growing away from their attachments to sin and the material world, they rise through the levels where there is less torment, but torment none-the-less. The level of purgatory described by St. Catherine is the uppermost level of purgatory.

Through our prayers and sacrifices we can help these souls rise through purgatory and achieve heaven.

Still don’t fear it. Fire can just be destructive, or it can cleanse and strengthen. God will be merciful during my life and in the life to come.

 

[porthos11]

Still don’t fear it. Fire can just be destructive, or it can cleanse and strengthen. God will be merciful during my life and in the life to come.

I am with you on this one. Purgatory is a place of charity, and while we can admit to the presence of suffering (we are being cleansed after all), in this state where there is nothing but love of God and neighbour, there ought to be nothing to fear. We may suffer for a while, but it will be a joyful suffering because there is no more uncertainty, no more risk.

You mentioned Fr. Groeschel, and I like his vision of Purgatory. We are there in the state of purification and there is an open door to the Beatific Vision. God himself is standing there beckoning us to come in. It is we ourselves who say “not yet, only when we are purified.”

In other words, we stay in Purgatory for as long as we do, not because we are prisoners there. It’s because we know we still need to stay there, and want to be there for as long as is necessary.

 

[Muzhik]

I was referring more to the claim that the requirement of detachment from sin is somehow lifted for a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Indulgences are part of the deposit of faith, and the Catholic teaching is that they are part of the power of the Keys. They are not governed by private revelation, no matter how worthy of belief the apparition is.

Therefore, my demand stands: if a claim is made that there is an “exception” to what the Church has currently imposed, I want an ecclesiastical source. Not a saint’s diary.

Apologies. I misremembered. The period of grace is not 8, but 20 days before or after the Divine Mercy Sunday.

Others are experiencing confusion. Here is a link to an “Ask An Apologist” question and reply to the conditions and actions you must do on Divine Mercy Sunday:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=13787411#post13787411
The answer also includes a link to the Vatican document on Divine Mercy Sunday.

In addition, check out divinemercysunday.com/index.htm for a selection of articles and handouts for Divine Mercy Sunday.

 

[porthos11]

Apologies. I misremembered. The period of grace is not 8, but 20 days before or after the Divine Mercy Sunday.

Others are experiencing confusion. Here is a link to an “Ask An Apologist” question and reply to the conditions and actions you must do on Divine Mercy Sunday:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=13787411#post13787411
The answer also includes a link to the Vatican document on Divine Mercy Sunday.

In addition, check out divinemercysunday.com/index.htm for a selection of articles and handouts for Divine Mercy Sunday.

Exactly.

And in that document, there is this provision:

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 (bold mine).

THIS is the decree that determines the indulgence. And as one can see, it debunks the claim that detachment from sin is not necessary.

 

[Muzhik]

Exactly.

And in that document, there is this provision:

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 (bold mine).

THIS is the decree that determines the indulgence. And as one can see, it debunks the claim that detachment from sin is not necessary.

I finally went back and read Dr. Marshall’s article instead of skimming it, and I see your point. My reaction?

Big whoop.

I see your point: what the Church has declared is the Law of God. The thing is, God is a God of Mercy. If I were to unknowingly recv. the Eucharist that had, for whatever reason, been invalidly consecrated, I would still recv the spiritual benefits of a validly consecrated Eucharist. God WANTS to help us, WANTS to receive us into His Kingdom. If, after reading Dr. Marshall’s article, someone who hadn’t been a frequent attender of Mass would be inspired to follow the terms laid down in the vision; AND if said person were to die on the way home from church, I somehow don’t think G_D would be standing at the gates of Heaven ready to cast him out with a scornful laugh.

My point is that I don’t think it’s a big deal: if so it’s an exception that applies only to one of the events associated with plenary indulgences; if not then I believe in G_D’s justice and TRUST IN HIS MERCY. Which is the whole point of Divine Mercy Sunday.

 

[porthos11]

I finally went back and read Dr. Marshall’s article instead of skimming it, and I see your point. My reaction?

Big whoop.

I see your point: what the Church has declared is the Law of God. The thing is, God is a God of Mercy. If I were to unknowingly recv. the Eucharist that had, for whatever reason, been invalidly consecrated, I would still recv the spiritual benefits of a validly consecrated Eucharist. God WANTS to help us, WANTS to receive us into His Kingdom. If, after reading Dr. Marshall’s article, someone who hadn’t been a frequent attender of Mass would be inspired to follow the terms laid down in the vision; AND if said person were to die on the way home from church, I somehow don’t think G_D would be standing at the gates of Heaven ready to cast him out with a scornful laugh.

My point is that I don’t think it’s a big deal: if so it’s an exception that applies only to one of the events associated with plenary indulgences; if not then I believe in G_D’s justice and TRUST IN HIS MERCY. Which is the whole point of Divine Mercy Sunday.

I’m addressing only the indulgence, not the state of grace. One who goes to confession is in a state of grace. The indulgence deals with the temporal punishment still remaining due to sin. One who has confessed and been absolved but not gained any indulgence is still heaven-bound, but probably with a stay in Purgatory.

I’ve been dealing with the question of the indulgence ONLY, and the false information that it spreads around. While we can always trust in God’s mercy towards the ignorant, our duty is still to the truth. And the truth is not what OP is claiming: that detachment from sin is not necessary on Divine Mercy Sunday.

 

[Muzhik]

I’m addressing only the indulgence, not the state of grace. One who goes to confession is in a state of grace. The indulgence deals with the temporal punishment still remaining due to sin. One who has confessed and been absolved but not gained any indulgence is still heaven-bound, but probably with a stay in Purgatory.

I’ve been dealing with the question of the indulgence ONLY, and the false information that it spreads around. While we can always trust in God’s mercy towards the ignorant, our duty is still to the truth. And the truth is not what OP is claiming: that detachment from sin is not necessary on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Have you brought this up with either Dr. Marshall or the Catholic Answers Radio people?

 

[porthos11]

Have you brought this up with either Dr. Marshall or the Catholic Answers Radio people?

No. Why should I?