NOVENA 1934 FEAST: DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

The Divine Mercy Novena

Also known as Divine Mercy Novena · Novena to the Divine Mercy

The Divine Mercy Novena is a nine-day devotion prayed from Good Friday through the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday. Each day the one praying brings a different group of people to God's mercy. It is a modern devotion, and its prayers remain under copyright, so this page gives its history and structure and points to the authorized text rather than reproducing it.

Where this devotion comes from

The novena was recorded by Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a Polish religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She wrote that the novena was given to her in Vilnius, then in Poland and now the capital of Lithuania, in September 1934. It appears in her Diary, the spiritual journal she kept from 1934 until shortly before her death. Faustina was canonized in 2000, and the Second Sunday of Easter was designated Divine Mercy Sunday in the same year. The standard English translation of the Diary is published by Marian Press in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and remains in copyright.

What the nine days concern

The structure of the novena is that each of the nine days brings a different group of people before God's mercy. In order, the days take: all people, and sinners in particular; priests and members of religious orders; those who are devout and faithful; those who do not believe in God, and those who do not yet know Christ; those who have separated from the unity of the Church; the meek and humble, and children; those who venerate and proclaim God's mercy; those detained in purgatory; and finally those who have grown lukewarm in faith. The devotion is closely tied to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which is commonly prayed alongside it on each of the nine days.

History

Devotion to the Divine Mercy grew from Faustina Kowalska's Diary and from the image of the merciful Christ painted to her description by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski in 1934. The devotion spread in Poland and then internationally, though it was restricted by the Holy Office between 1959 and 1978 pending examination, in part because of unreliable translations of the Diary then in circulation. The restriction was lifted in 1978.

John Paul II, who had been Archbishop of Krakow, promoted the devotion strongly. He beatified Faustina in 1993, canonized her in 2000, and on the day of her canonization designated the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday for the universal Church.

Because the devotion dates to 1934 and every English version descends from a translation still in copyright, there is no public-domain wording of the novena to draw on. That is why this page describes rather than reproduces it.

How it is prayed

The novena is prayed on nine consecutive days beginning on Good Friday and ending on the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday, so that the ninth day falls on the eve of the feast. Each day has its own intention, bringing a different group of people before God's mercy in the order set out above. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is commonly prayed on each of the nine days alongside the day's intention. The novena may also be prayed at other times of the year for a particular intention.

The authorized text

We do not reproduce the prayers of this devotion. They are available in full from the source below.

Read the Divine Mercy Novena at EWTN

Common questions

When is the Divine Mercy Novena prayed?

It begins on Good Friday and ends on the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday, which is the Second Sunday of Easter. The nine days are arranged so that the last falls on the eve of the feast. It may also be prayed at other times of the year for a particular intention.

Why does this page not include the text of the novena?

The devotion dates to 1934 and was recorded in the Diary of Faustina Kowalska. Every English version descends from a translation that remains in copyright, so there is no public-domain wording to draw on. Every other prayer on this site is reproduced from a named public-domain source, and we hold to that standard rather than making an exception. The authorized text is linked above.

What is the difference between the novena and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?

The chaplet is a short prayer said on ordinary rosary beads and can be prayed on any day. The novena is the nine-day devotion running from Good Friday to the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, in which each day brings a different group of people before God's mercy. In practice the chaplet is commonly prayed on each of the nine days of the novena, so the two are often prayed together.

Source

Devotion recorded by Maria Faustina Kowalska, Vilnius, September 1934, in her Diary. The standard English translation is published by Marian Press, Stockbridge, and remains in copyright. No prayer text is reproduced on this page.