Second April 2005, eve of the Feast of Divine Mercy, saw crowds gathering in St Peter’s Square until the early hours of the morning, upon hearing of Pope John Paul II’s death. Second April 2008 also saw crowds gathered in the same square, not only to pray together to commemorate John Paul II’s life and death but also to inaugurate the World Apostolic Congress on Divine Mercy.
It is hard to separate John Paul II from this important feast when we recall his special love for Divine Mercy. ‘I give thanks to the Divine Providence that I have been enabled to contribute personally to the fulfilment of Christ’s Will, through the Institution of the Feast of Divine Mercy. I pray unceasingly that God will have Mercy on us and on the whole world’ Pope John Paul II (7th June 1997). John Paul II went on to canonize St Maria Faustina Kowalska on 30th April 2000, making her the first saint of the 21st century and declared the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday.
In the 1930s, through an extraordinary revelation to St Faustina, a simple Polish nun, Jesus reminded the world that His love and mercy for all people knows no bounds. St Faustina recorded these encounters with the Lord in her Diary, a book that has become a spiritual classic.
The man behind the 2008 Congress is Cardinal Christoph Shönborn, Archbishop of Vienna. The idea came to him in July 2005 when he presided over a Divine Mercy international retreat in Lagiewniki, Poland. Pope Benedict XVI was enthusiastic about the World Congress (2nd – 6th April) which included many prominent members of the Catholic Church: Cardinal Shönborn, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow (former private secretary to John Paul II), Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Among people wishing to witness the power of prayer through the Divine Mercy Chaplet was Immaculate Ilibagiza, who narrated her miraculous escape from the horrific Rwanda genocide in 1994, when she lost family and friends, but survived to share the story of her transition into forgiveness and a profound relationship with God.
The 2008 gathering brought together thousands of pilgrims from every corner of the earth. The great basilica of St John Lateran hosted the morning conferences and daily Mass and in the afternoons Eucharistic Adoration was held and Confessions were heard in various churches in Rome. Piazza Navona witnessed a unique event on Saturday evening, 5th April, with adoration taking place in the square itself. The Congress concluded on Sunday morning with a solemn Mass in St Peter’s Basilica followed by the Angelus in St Peter’s Square. After five intense days of prayer, conferences, meeting people and making new friends, everyone left St Peter’s with the promise that they would meet again next year (perhaps in Lagiewniki itself, at the Shrine of Divine Mercy) and that they would go back to their own countries to spread the devotion to the Divine Mercy.
‘Do what is only within your power to spread Devotion to my Mercy and I will make up for what you lack’, Jesus said to St Faustina and today we can see His words have come to fruition.
‘God, merciful Father, in your Son, Jesus Christ, you have revealed your love and poured it out upon us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, we entrust to you today the destiny of the world and of every man and woman. Bend down to us sinners, heal our weakness, conquer all evil, and grant that all the peoples of the earth may experience your mercy. In You, the Triune God, may they ever find the source of hope. Eternal Father, by the Passion and Resurrection of your Son, have mercy on us and upon the whole world! Amen.’
More information on the Congress at www.worldapostoliccongressonmercy.org