Divine
Mercy
Local parishes pray for mercy
by Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
When people embrace the message of Divine Mercy, they embrace a whole
new world filled with millions of like-minded people who share the same
trust in God’s mercy. And they also embrace the same noble mission
— to pray for God’s mercy on the world.
“The Lord told Sister Faustina to start this movement and we believe
He hears our prayer for His mercy,” said Herbert Fleck of St. Williams
Parish in Philadelphia. “We believe all prayers will be answered
and there’s a lot of healing to be done.’
Volpe and more than a dozen other parishioners have been meeting every
Monday night for almost a decade to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for
each other and the world.
“We pray for peace, for an end to abortion, for the President, that
he will be directed and inspired by the Holy Spirit to make the right
decisions that are best for the country and the people. These are the
kinds of things we pray for,” Fleck said.
The group meets in the church on Monday evenings at 6:45 p.m. “We
start with a few minutes of silence and pray, ‘Lord, we give our
hearts and minds to you through the Holy Spirit through your Son and through
the intercession of St. Maria Faustina.’ And then, in our own minds,
we tell Our Lord what we need,” Fleck said.
Someone will then read a selection from the diary of St. Maria Faustina,
which is followed by a recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. They
pray in the shadow of a large image of the Divine Mercy which is housed
in a nearby alcove of the church.
Even though the whole meeting is over in less than hour, the effects are
long-lasting.
“We feel very close to one another,” said Adele Volpe, who
has been attending the group since it started.
“It’s a very powerful feeling. A lot of us come because we
have problems and we want to pray about them. You can just feel the goodness
in these people. When you ask them to pray for something, they’re
sincere about it. When you see them again the next week, they ask about
it. We’re all so close like this. That’s what so good about
this group.”
The group is remembering a special friend, Monsignor Joseph A. Tracy,
Secretary for Catholic Human Services in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
who was a member of St. Williams before he became a priest. Msgr. Tracy
asked the group to pray for his health and well-being and they do so every
Monday night.
“We’re praying for God’s mercy for him,” Adele
said. “He’s so special. He’s just an awesome guy.”
They might not see him around the parish anymore, but in their prayers,
he’s never out of their sight.
Another group has been meeting for 14 years at Our Lady of Fatima parish
in Bensalem. Calling themselves the “Souls of Mercy,” members
come together at 2 p.m. every Tuesday in the chapel for confession, followed
by Mass and recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
The faithfulness of parish priests is a major reason why this group has
continued the mission of mercy for so long.
“Father Marian Zalecki, OSPPE, from the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa
in Doylestown, is who started it here,” said Toni Markowski, a long
time member of the group. “He was the one who would come down every
week and do these Masses for us on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m.”
Father Zalecki, who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer, would alternate
weeks with Father Joseph A. Coffey, who is now a navy chaplain.
For a time, Father Ainikkal, CMI, took over, then he moved to New Jersey.
From that time on, Father Robert H. Roedel, from Assumption BVM in Feasterville
and Father Thomas D. Homa, former pastor of Our Lady of Fatima, have been
saying Mass for the group.
“We also have a meeting on Tuesday evenings for those who can’t
make it during the day,” Markowski said. “It starts at 7 p.m.
and goes until about 7:50 p.m. We read from the diary of St. Faustina,
from the Bible, and pray the chaplet together.”
What could be so important about the message Jesus gave to St. Faustina
Kowalski 80 years ago that can make them come together every week to celebrate?
“The message of divine mercy is not just praying the chaplet,”
Markowski said. “It’s not just going to Divine Mercy Sunday.
It means we always forgive. It involves all of our sacraments and means
we keep up with our Catholic faith. When you read through St. Faustina’s
diary, it all comes together and you see that the whole key is mercy.”
Contact Susan Brinkmann at fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615.
Preparing
for Divine Mercy Sunday
How do I prepare to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday?
Our Lord promised that those who celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday will receive
complete forgiveness of their sins and the punishment due them. Extraordinary!
What must you do to obtain these graces?
• Many people say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy beginning on Good
Friday until the Sunday after Easter. Some also say the Novena to The
Divine Mercy. Although the Marians of the Immaculate Conception at the
National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass. say this is
not necessary, it is “good preparation.”
• Repent of your sins and firmly trust in God’s mercy by going
to confession during Lent. Again, many say you should go on Divine Mercy
Sunday if possible or otherwise seven days before or after the Feast.
But the Marians request people go to confession frequently during Lent
and not put it off until Holy Week.
• Receive holy Communion on the feast of Divine Mercy. Everyone
agrees this is absolutely necessary.
• Venerate the image of Divine Mercy.
• Perform a work of mercy by either helping others or praying for
them.
What about the plenary indulgence?
In 2005, as The CS&T reported, Pope John Paul II granted
a plenary indulgence to the faithful who, on Divine Mercy Sunday, in a
spirit completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial
sin, recite the Our Father and the Apostles’ Creed, and also add
a devout prayer such as “Jesus, I trust in You.” An act of
mercy would be to offer this indulgence for a soul in Purgatory.
How do I say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?
First, say an “Our Father,” a “Hail Mary” and
the “Apostles’ Creed.” Then, using a pair of ordinary
rosary beads, say the following prayers.
On the large, “Our Father” bead, say: “Eternal Father,
we 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.”
On the smaller, “Hail Mary” beads, say 10 times: “For
the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
Continue for five “decades” and then finish by saying three
times: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy
on us and on the whole world.”
What works of mercy can I perform in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday?
The corporal works of mercy are: To feed the hungry, give drink to the
thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit
the imprisoned, and bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are: To
instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs
patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted, and pray
for the living and the dead.
How do I say the Divine Mercy Novena?
Check online at www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm.
Or purchase a copy at your local Catholic bookstore.
Holy Week Events
Stations of the Cross...
in the tradition of JPII, Cardinal Rigali, presider Friday, April 14 7:30
p.m. at St. Charles Borromeo, Wynnewood.
The Way of the Cross …
Experience the Passion
Sunday, April 9
8 p.m.
at St. Titus Catholic Church
3006 Kenwood Road, East Norriton
Sponsored by the ALIVE Youth Group & Bethany Music Ministry
Way of the Cross …
through Center City
Friday, April 14 (Good Friday)
2 p.m. start
at St. Patrick
20th and Locust Streets, Philadelphia
Sponsored by
Communion & Liberation
Mercy on the move:
Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy
by Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
It’s one of the fastest growing branches of the divine mercy mission
around the world — the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy
(EADM) cenacles.
These cenacles are formed in parish communities for the purpose of helping
members to develop themselves more deeply in the message of mercy given
to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, and then to carry that message out into
the world.
Under the guidance of a priest or spiritual director, they pray together
and study Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Diary
of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. Once they’ve armed themselves with
grace and knowledge, members spread the message of mercy through the performance
of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Each group discerns its
own personal mission and how it will reach out to the hurting and the
marginalized within its area. Works of mercy range from visiting the sick
in hospitals to collecting medical and educational material for overseas
missions or local prison ministries.
The concept has been spreading around the world faster than anyone imagined.
“We started as a single cenacle in Brandon, Florida, in 1996,”
said Bryan Thatcher, the founder of the worldwide EADM mission. “Now
there are over 1,000 in the U.S., as well as thousands overseas. We have
ministry activity in 25 countries.”
Those countries include Tanzania, Egypt, India, Togo, the Philippines
and the Samoan Islands.
The message of mercy is on the move, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
is no exception. Four years ago, The Catholic Standard & Times reported
on one of the first EADM cenacles to form at St. Mary Magdalene Parish
in Media. Founded by parishioners George Hudson and Teddy Strates as a
cenacle for Cluster 67, it has spawned numerous groups since that time.
“We were the first to have a Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy
cenacle around here, at least that I know of,” Strates said. “We
started a cluster cenacle with five parishes feeding into it.”
They began meeting at 2 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of the month
in the perpetual adoration chapel.
“Our main mission is to profess and proclaim the truth of the Real
Presence of Jesus in the most holy Eucharist,” Stokes said. They
promote both perpetual adoration and the hourly offering of the Divine
Mercy chaplet for the sick and dying.
They do this because the message of mercy given through St. Maria Faustina
emphasizes the Eucharist and the need to pray for God’s mercy for
the dying.
But the message of mercy can’t stop at the cenacle door. Members
are encouraged to perform the corporal works of mercy, especially by caring
for the “lepers” of today: the rejected, the lonely, the disabled,
the elderly and the dying.
“We go to nursing homes, hospitals, one-on-one,” Strates said.
“Wherever there’s a need, the Lord will give it to us and
we go. What we try to do is be filled with the love of God, then take
that love out to others. That’s what it’s all about.”
They must have done a very good job because before long, another cenacle
was formed at nearby St. Pius X Parish in Broomall.
“I saw the 2002 article in The Catholic Standard and Times and cut
it out,” said Cathy Jacobs, one of the founders of the new cenacle.
“I saved it for a long time and eventually I looked in the phone
book for Teddy’s number and found it.”
She started by attending Teddy’s cenacle, then realized there was
enough interest to start one at her own parish. Today, this new cenacle
has about 20 members who meet on the first and third Friday of the month
at 7 p.m.
“We have a new adoration chapel at St. Pius X — called The
Divine Mercy chapel — where we have adoration from 8:30 a.m. to
8:30 p.m. every day, Monday through Saturday,” Jacobs said. “That’s
where we meet to say the chaplet, then go to the church basement meeting
room for the actual cenacle meeting.”
Jacobs group also had the good fortune of obtaining a first-class relic
of St. Faustina from Father Serpahim Michalenko, M.I.C., of Stockbridge,
which they take along on their missions of mercy.
Its reliquary “is in the shape of St. Faustina in her habit,”
Jacobs said. “It’s almost two feet high and is glass- enclosed,
so it attracts a lot of attention when we carry it around. People are
always asking us about it and we get all these opportunities to tell them
about the message of mercy. We take it to all kinds of places, to homes
where people are sick and dying, to hospitals and nursing homes.”
They used to take it to a man who was paralyzed after being shot in a
robbery in Overbrook “We used to visit him at a rehabilitation center
downtown and we would have to sign in,” Jacobs said. “We’d
put the relic down on the counter and people would come over and start
looking at it — the people behind the counter, the guards at the
door, people going to the elevators. We used to have these great opportunities
to tell them about St. Faustina and how we were going upstairs to pray
with Vito and his family.”
They never lack opportunities to spread the message of mercy. “But
that’s what we’re called to do when we know the message of
mercy,” she said. “You can’t just sit on it. You have
to distribute it. A major part of the message is that you have to promulgate
it.”
The message is not hard to spread, says Shirley West, another member of
the original cenacle at St. Mary Magdalene who started another one at
Our Lady of Charity in Brookhaven. “It’s easy to do,”
she said. “It all just falls into place.”
Her group meets at 2 p.m. every other Thursday in Our Lady of Charity
convent chapel.
Cyndy Pyle at nearby Nativity BVM parish in Media always felt drawn to
the chaplet of Divine Mercy. She knew about the cenacle at St. Mary Magdalene
and prayed about whether or not to start her own.
“I just felt led to go ahead and do it,” she said, about the
cenacle she started almost a year ago. “We meet on the first and
third Thursday at 7 p.m. in the library conference room at Nativity. By
having our meeting in the evening, it gives people more options. We get
working people, younger people.”
This cenacle is still discerning what its mission of mercy will be.
Michael Romeo, a parishioner at Epiphany of Our Lord parish in Philadelphia,
has a cenacle that meets in his home at 7:30 p.m. on Monday evenings.
“We’ve been meeting for over seven years as a Bible faith-sharing
group until about a year ago when the word came to us that we should form
a cenacle. We had already been working in the corporal and spiritual works
of mercy so it just worked itself right in.”
The group calls its apostolate “Project Matthew 25” because
it encompasses all the commands the Lord gives in that Scripture passage.
“Mainly we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned,
care for the sick, welcome the stranger,” Romeo said.
In addition to those groups, two other cenacles are on the horizon for
the Archdiocese. The first is at the home of Jim and Betsey Forsyth of
Notre Dame de Lourdes in Swarthmore, who are planning to start their cenacle
within the next few weeks.. It will meet at their home on either Saturday
or Sunday evenings.
The second is still under consideration by Father Peter J. Welsh, the
Delaware County coordinator of the Spanish apostolate, who is looking
into the possibility of forming a cenacle for the Spanish community.
For more information about Eucharistic Apostles of Divine Mercy cenacles,
see the Web site: www.thedivinemercy.org/EADM
or call 1-800-462-7426.
Contact Susan Brinkmann at fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615.
Local Divine Mercy
devotions
All devotions are scheduled for Divine Mercy Sunday, April 23, unless
otherwise noted. Additional listings are printed on the reverse side of
the Divine Mercy poster that is included in this issue of The CS&T.
Holy Trinity, Morrisville
Recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy immediately following 11a.m.
Mass
St. Mary Church, Conshohocken
2 p.m. — Confessions and Divine Mercy devotions
3 p.m — Mass
Holy Cross Church, Springfield
Bishop Avenue and Springfield Road.
12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. — Sacrament of Reconciliation
1:45 p.m. — Rosary
2 p.m. — Mass
3 p.m. — Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
3:10 p.m. — Singing of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
3:30 p.m. — Eucharistic Procession and Benediction
Sacred Heart Church, Swedesburg
120 Jefferson Street
Divine Mercy Sunday, April 23
Confessions — 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Mass and procession to follow at 3 p.m.
SS. Simon & Jude, West Chester
3 p.m. — a special hour of devotional prayers for God’s mercy.
The hour begins with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and is followed
by short verses from the Gospel, in which Jesus breathes His last breath
for love of humanity. There will then be the singing of the Chaplet of
Divine Mercy, and special Divine Mercy Stations of the Cross. The hour
concludes with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Our Lady of Fatima Church, Bensalem
2933 Street Road
2 p.m. — Confessions, Holy Hour and Chaplet of Divine Mercy
3 p.m. — Mass
Following the Mass there will be veneration of the relic of St. Faustina.
Saint Joseph Parish, Downingtown
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. — Exposition of Blessed Sacrament
3 p.m. — Prayers and Singing of Divine Mercy Chaplet
4 p.m. — Mass
St. Lawrence Church, Riegelsville
The Divine Mercy Chaplet will be said after each Mass on Divine Mercy
Sunday.
St. Peter Church, Honeybrook (West Brandywine)
Noon to 3 p.m. — Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
3 p.m. — Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
St. Ann Church, Phoenixville
On Good Friday, the Divine Mercy Praises group will pray the Divine Mercy
Chaplet before the 7:30 p.m. Mass.
Holy Saturday through Easter Sunday, group members will pray the chaplet
independently.
Through Easter Week, the group will pray the Divine Mercy praises after
6: 30 p.m. Masses.
Following 11:30 Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Eucharist
will be exposed for Adoration and the group will pray the Chaplet of Divine
Mercy. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament continues to 3 p.m.
3 p.m. — Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament