Today is the octave day of Easter, the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a day of great joy and celebration! Jesus made such an incredible promise and gift for remission of sins and punishments on this day in particular. He asked this to happen through the Church via St. Maria Faustina in 1936. In 2000, Pope St. John Paul II instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter, fulfilling the Lord’s request.
The Urbi et Orbi (to the City of Rome and to the World) Decree, Indulgences Attached to Devotions in Honor of Divine Mercy, explains the conditions for receiving the plenary indulgence offered today, Divine Mercy Sunday. The foundational requirements, as Jesus explained them to St. Faustina in her Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, are (1) sacramental confession and (2) reception of Holy Communion (Diary 699) on Divine Mercy Sunday (2nd Sunday of Easter):
The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Diary 699
Right now, during our 2020 COVID quarantine, we cannot receive Holy Communion nor can we go to sacramental Confession. The promised plenary indulgence is, however, still possible for you! Here’s how: