Marian Helper • Summer 2023 • Marian.org 7 MIC, and the homilist was Fr. Allen Alexander, MIC. On Sunday, the field show before Holy Mass included a great overview of Divine Mercy from soon-to-be-ordained Deacon Timothy Childers, MIC. He was followed by Fr. Calloway, who spoke on St. Joseph as Protector of the Eucharist, and Marian Press author Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, who offered key insights from St. Faustina, the Secretary and Apostle of Divine Mercy. Jesus’ promises Throughout the weekend, pilgrims had the chance to go to Confession, adore Jesus present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and attend Holy Mass. They responded to Jesus’ promises about the Octave Day of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday: “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 699). It was appropriate that Tax Day got moved from April 15, and instead Divine Mercy Saturday was a day of debts forgiven, sins erased, and souls set right with God through Confession and the Vigil Mass. April 16, Divine Mercy Sunday, would in other years be celebrated as the Feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary who bore witness to Our Lady identifying herself as the Immaculate Conception, and through whose faithful obedience the healing waters of Lourdes are a gift from Heaven to the world. And it was somehow right that April 16 is the birthday of the late Pope Benedict XVI, the founder of the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy, who gave us all the mandate of going forth as “witnesses of God’s mercy, a source of hope for every person and for the whole world.” On Divine Mercy Sunday, Bishop Bernard Shlesinger thanked the Marian Fathers “for your warm hospitality, for your vocation, for helping lead this great apostolic work of St. Faustina and, of course, of Our Lord, and for bringing the Divine Mercy to the world.” Lights, camera, action! Hosting the pre-show on EWTN live for the first time since 2019 are the Very Rev. Chris Alar, MIC, and the Most Rev. Joseph Roesch, MIC. Left, pilgrims had the opportunity to spend time with our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration tent. Under sunny skies, pilgrims waited patiently for Confession, a requirement along with Holy Communion to receive the extraordinary graces promised by Jesus on the Feast of Divine Mercy.
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