Divine Mercy Weekend Program 2018

We especially wish to thank the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who return year after year, and without whose support we would be lost, as well as those who annually donate the use of their parking facilities during Mercy Weekend: Berkshire Record Outlet / Big Y Supermarkets / Boyd Technologies / Country Curtains / Onyx Specialty Papers / Red Lion Inn / Lee Premium Outlet. And those businesses who donate goods and services: Red Lion Inn / TD Bank of Great Barrington / Ward’s Nurseries. Special Thanks to: Chief Darrell Fennelly and the Stockbridge Police Department / Stockbridge Fire Department / Lee PD / Great Barrington PD / Berkshire Medical Center / Fairview Hospital / Berkshire County Sheriff’s Dept. / MA State Police / MA Emergency Management Assoc. / County Ambulance Co. / CERT Volunteers / Keenan House Workers / Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, Selectmen and area merchants for supporting our event. Thank You to Our Volunteers, Advertisers & Supporters! Dear Pilgrims in Christ, We welcome you to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy on this Feast of DivineMercy Sunday! Take advantage of the spiritual graces that God is pouring out on you this DivineMercy weekend.As Jesus told St. Faustina: “On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened” ( Diary , 699). This past year, we completed our renovation of the Holy Family/St. Joseph Shrine. We are also in the last stages of completing the Shrine of the Holy Innocents. The Stations of the Cross are very popular for pilgrims to visit, and nowwe have a new St. Faustina Welcome Center. Please be patient as we continue to make improvements to our grounds, facilities, and various smaller shrines. This year the Church is celebrating theWorld Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland (Aug. 21-26). Families are an integral part of our society. This Divine Mercy Sunday, let us pray that the DivineMercy will renew and heal our families and bring them to unity, love, and peace.With families inmind, we have invited a special guest from Ireland, world-renown Catholic singer and songwriter Dana Scallon, who will share her beautiful voice with us this Divine Mercy Sunday. Our celebrant this year is the Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky. Archbishop Kurtz was the former president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( 2013-2016) and is now the chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, the episcopal moderator for the National Catholic Partnership on Disability and Engaged Encounter, and the board chair for the Catholic Education Partners. He is on the board of trustees of The Catholic University of America as well as the board of directors for the Institute for Priestly Formation and the National Catholic Bioethics Center. He serves as a member of the Council for the National Catholic School of Social Service at Catholic University and on the advisory board for the cause for Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification. He is also an appointed member of the Holy See’s Congregation for the Oriental Churches. Let us celebrate this Feast of DivineMercy Sunday with joy and prayer invoking God’s mercy for ourselves, our families, and our countries. Yours, in Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate, Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC Rector, National Shrine of The Divine Mercy