157 in spreading the Message of The Divine Mercy all over the world. He also appreciated our involvement in the work of postulation in bringing to a successful conclusion both the beatifi cation and canonization processes of St. Faustina. In December 1999, Msgr. Stanisław Dziwisz, Pope John Paul II’s personal secretary, asked the Marians to gauge the grass-root interest and desire for the establishment of The Divine Mercy Sunday. We initiated the collection of signatures by turning not only to the 550,000 active members of the Association of Marian Helpers, but we also contacted the various Divine Mercy Centers, Promoters and Shrines around the world with which we were connected. In addition, we brought this request to the entire world through EWTN (Mother Angelica’s television network). The response was phenomenal. Day and night our fax machine continued to print names from all over the world. Boxes and boxes with signatures were sent to the Holy See. We believe that this effort and the overwhelming response by countless millions from all over the world convinced the Holy Father that it was the proper time to extend the Divine Sunday celebration to the Universal Church. The Sunday after Easter, the Second Sunday of Easter, had already been formally approved for Churches in Poland, Russia and the Philippines. On Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000, the day of St. Faustina’s Canonization, Pope John Paul II offi cially proclaimed that the “Second Sunday of Easter from this time on will also be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” Pope John Paul II expressed his appreciation for our efforts in a special blessing addressed to the Marians issued on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the revelation of the Divine Mercy Message and Devotion and the 60th anniversary of the promotion of the message by the Marians. In that blessing He thanked the Marians for all that they have done on behalf of the message of Mercy. The full text of this blessing reads as follows: On the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the Revelation of The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion granted to the Church by Our Lord, Jesus Christ, through St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, as well as of the 60th Anniversary of the Promotion of this Message and Devotion Throughout the World by you, Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M., of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Province, headquartered on Eden Hill in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, I hereby thank you for your participation with others in the successful conclusion of St. Maria Faustina’s Canonization Cause; And I encourage you to “be Apostles of The Divine Mercy under the maternal and loving guidance of Mary…” That by “Deed, Word and Prayer” you would proclaim this urgent and salutary message of and devotion to Jesus—The Divine Mercy, especially as you minister to the needs of the faithful who come on pilgrimage to The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, placed in your country, by God’s Providence, under Your solicitous care.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==