LAFLIN — An hour before Mass began, the parking lot at St. Maria Goretti Church was almost full. Just outside the main church, lines of people waited their turn at confession with one of the eight priests called in for the day
Inside, worshipers, upwards of nearly 400 of them, ranging from youngsters to seniors, packed the pews.
Ushers, in their wine-colored blazers, guided all comers to seats in pews and in the chairs that lined the walls of the church. Easter flowers in white and the colors of spring filled the altar, lit with candles.
It was the middle of the afternoon.
The special occasion drawing so many was the 11th annual Solemn Mass and Devotions for Divine Mercy Sunday.
Worshipers got a brief history lesson about the day’s meaning from Father Thomas Petro, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Dupont, who served as the main celebrant for the Mass.
He began with a procession to the altar and blessed all with holy water and incense before celebrating the Solemn High Mass.
During his homily, Fr. Petro talked about the Polish nun, Faustina Kowalska, and the visions of Christ she recorded in her more than 600-page diary. The visits and visions came to her in the 1930s, as the Lord asked her to record the events to remind the world of the mission of Christ and of His church.
“Mercy is the mission of the church itself,” Fr. Petro told the congregation. “We must all do our part to reconcile sinners with God and to share the Word of God throughout the world.”
The opening prayer calls Divine Mercy the key element in God’s plan for salvation, emphasizing it was through mercy that God gave His son for the redemption of mankind.
The services mesh with the traditional Gospel for the second Sunday of Easter, in which Jesus appears to the apostles who huddle in fear on the Sabbath, not knowing their fate, since their leader and Messiah has just been crucified. In the Gospel, Jesus appears to them, but Thomas is missing from the group. He later expresses doubt that the others have seen Jesus, but gets called upon when Jesus appears a second time to gently chide him for his doubts.
In that Gospel, too, Jesus grants the apostles the ability to forgive sins, thereby granting mercy to others.
In front of the altar stood a framed print of Christ’s image, a copy of the painting created by now-Saint Faustina, who created the image of what she saw in her vision of the Lord. The original was on display for the first time in 1935, and Faustina herself attended that Mass in the Polish chapel where she served.
In her diary, Faustina also recorded instructions on how worshipers can serve each other by living out the corporal works of mercy, part of the Catholic Church doctrine – visiting the sick, burying the dead, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor – and the spiritual works of mercy, including admonish sinners, instruct the ignorant, comfort the afflicted.
“Never lose hope in yourself,” Fr. Petro instructed. “Never lose hope in other people who have fallen away. But do what you can to help them back.”
After Mass, Fr. Petro led the faithful in the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a series of prayers and services devoted to works of mercy. He set exposition of the relic of St. Faustina, a small piece of bone, for adoration and prayers.
Cathy Mack, of Pittston, has been the driving force behind these special services each year.
“It started in 1996. I was at a service in my home parish and saw the tri-fold image,” she said. “There was something that drew me in.”
Mack said later that day she and her mother had planned to visit her father in the hospital, but she told her mother she “just had” to go to the Divine Mercy services being held at SS. Peter and Paul Church in Plains.
“I came home almost in a trance,” she said. “There was something powerful, something that changed me that day.”
The result was her work to bring special Divine Mercy services to others. Starting in 2006, the special Mass was in the St. Joseph Oblates chapel, but for the past five years, it has been in St. Maria Goretti Church.
In 2000, Pope John Paul canonized Faustina Kowalska and officially designated the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday.
John Paul II, died in April 2005 on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, and was himself beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2011 by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. He was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, 2014, by Pope Francis.
