Divine Mercy Sunday follows nine-day novena

By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
Posted April 10, 2003

Last August, Pope John Paul II proclaimed that a full participation in the Divine Mercy devotion can grant one a plenary indulgence.

Part of what Jesus said when he revealed his message of mercy to Sister Faustina Helena Kowalska of Poland in the 1930s, as noted in her diary, was, "Whoever approaches the fount of life on this day will receive complete remission of sins and punishment."

With that in mind, many people throughout the Sioux City Diocese will take part in the nine-day novena beginning on Good Friday, which leads up to Divine Mercy Sunday on April 27.

Those wishing to participate in the Divine Mercy Novena are asked to pray on their own at home the first three days. Then, for the third year, Trinity Heights Queen of Peace, Inc. in Sioux City will host the remaining six days beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 21.

"By praying the Divine Mercy Novena, we are following the beautiful example of perseverance in prayer shown to us by our Blessed Mother and the apostles as they waited for nine days for the coming of the Holy Spirit," said Regina Ratino, a Queen of Peace board member. "As we pray the nine-day novena for other souls, we are actually helping to prepare ourselves spiritually for the reception of extraordinary graces, which our Lord wants to pour upon us on the Feast of Mercy."

Deacon Ron Forrest will lead those gathered for the first evening at Queen of Peace, and then five different priests will guide those present for the remaining days starting at 7:30 each evening.

Msgr. Leonard Ziegmann, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Laurens, will lead the novena on the eighth day, in which the divine mercy and purgatory are woven together.

"While showing how purgatory is the place of justice, we're praying that mercy will overtake the justice aspect," he said. "In this day and age when people are so away from God, they need to hear of his mercy. While the novena has a formal aspect from Good Friday to the Sunday after Easter, many of us actually have a perpetual novena saying these prayers day after day throughout the year. So it's not just limited to one week of mercy."

According to Roxanne Lohr, another Queen of Peace board member, if people need the novena they can get it at the Queen of Peace, and flyers with information on it will be available in the back of church at all the parishes in Sioux City.

As for the Divine Mercy Sunday celebration, Lohr said last year there were well over 200 people at Queen of Peace, and she wasn't sure if they could accommodate many more. So this year, Father Nickolas Becker, parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament Church in Sioux City, will be celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday along with retired Bishop Lawrence Soens as homilist.

The celebration will begin at 2 p.m. with exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Confessions, which will be heard by Father Becker, Msgr. Ziegmann and retired priest Father Raymond Wieling, will also be available beginning at 2 p.m. The chaplet of Divine Mercy will begin at 3 p.m., followed by Bishop Soens' homily and benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

A reception in the parish hall will immediately follow the celebration, and the Divine Mercy video may be viewed at 4 p.m. in the parish hall.

"I am very happy that they have that problem where the space they have at Trinity Heights just isn't big enough," Father Becker said. "I'm very grateful that the devotion is gaining in popularity so that with a larger church, hopefully we can accommodate a larger crowd."