Tomorrow (Good Friday) is the beginning of the Divine Mercy 9-Day Novena which ends on Divine Mercy Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter. It's one of the greatest and easiest ways to gain a full plenary indulgence--a true testement to Jesus' unfathomable Mercy. If you don't have a Divine Mercy booklet, the words and a more complete explanation can be found here.
My booklet states 7 ways we should observe the Feast of Divine Mercy:
1. Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter (which is widespread now)
2. Sinerely repent of all of our sins (becoming detached)
3. Place our complete trust in Jesus
4. Go to Confession
5. Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast
6. Venerate the Image of The Divine Mercy (Jesus coming forward with a red and white ray piercing forth from his Merciful and Sorrowful Heart)
7. Be merciful to others, through our actions, words, and prayers on their behalf
To make a plenary indulgence you also have to pray for the Holy Father and his intentions. Generally a Hail Mary and Our Father are accepted as fufilling this requirement. Confession should be within 8 days before or after, but on the EWTN website it states within 20 days. And, something I just found out on the EWTN website, is that you can apply the plenary indulgence to yourself (obviously) or a deceased loved one! That would be a very merciful deed to say it for someone who has died. 3pm is the Hour of Mercy, but the novena may be said at any time throughout the day. It really doesn't take much time. The daily readings are short and the Divine Mercy Chaplet only takes about 6 minutes. Best of all, it's a great way to Console Jesus' Merciful and Sorrowful Heart.
I didn't know you could offer the novena for someone else. Wonderful to know and that is exactly what I am doing this year! Christians all around the world join together in this novena - very powerful indeed.
ReplyDelete