Since Jesus Himself asked for this universal feast, I am paying more attention to His request and to the picture of Divine Mercy that he asked Sister, now Saint, Faustina Kowalska, to have the image venerated publicly. He told her that He desired the Feast of Mercy to "be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners...."
Jesus continued to say: "The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is my desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy."
Several years ago, my sister tried to get me interested in reading Sister Faustina's Diary where she has recorded her conversations with Jesus. I am afraid I was not interested and even after Faustina was canonized in 2000, I did not really pay much attention to the Image of Jesus as Divine Mercy and none at all to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Now I am actually reading all about this devotion in the Appendix 2 in Michael E. Gaitley, MIC's Consoling the Heart of Jesus: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.
I am trying to keep an open mind and see how this Devotion is a form of Devotion to the Heart of Christ which is central to my own spirituality. I did feel that I should have said more about Divine Mercy Sunday so now I have.
An added note is that Jesus said that the two rays "denote Blood and Water... These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the cross...Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter."
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