June 1, 2025 Seventh Sunday of Easter National Shrine of The Divine Mercy A Ministry of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary National Shrine of The Divine Mercy PO Box 951 2 Prospect Hill Road Stockbridge, MA 01262 (GPS: 11 Pine Street, Stockbridge, MA) Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC: Rector Fr. Robert Vennetti, MIC: Vice Rector Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC: Vice Rector Shrine Reception: 413-298-3931 Bus Pilgrimages: 413-298-1119 Gift Shop: 888-484-1112 National Shrine: www.shrineofdivinemercy.org Divine Mercy: www.thedivinemercy.org Marians: www.marian.org Livestream from the National Shrine Daily Devotions Daily Mass 9:00am Chaplet of Divine Mercy 3:00pm Rosary for Life 5:00pm Divine Mercy (Official) Divine Mercy Videos posted on our website daily: shrineofdivinemercy.org Dear Pilgrims, We welcome you to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Please join us for any upcoming events at the Shrine along with doing a personal pilgrimage during this year. Feel free to visit our Gift Shop and stroll our beautiful grounds during your visit here. May God bless you. Sincerely in Jesus and Mary Immaculate, Fr. Matthew Tomeny, MIC Shrine Rector Monday- Saturday 8:00am, 9:00am & 2:00pm Sunday 9:00am, 10:30am & 2:00pm Please note: 2pm Mass on Saturday does NOT fulfill Sunday obligation Confessions Available Monday thru Friday 1:00pm - 2:00pm Saturdays and Sundays 1:00pm – 2:00pm 3:30pm – 4:15pm Daily Schedule
Upcoming Events For more information please visit the Shrine Calendar found on our website: https: www.shrineofdivinemercy.org June 6/4-6 Medicine, Bioethics& Spirituality Conference • see flyer on page 11 for more information 6/6 First Friday Devotions at 8pm • see flyer on page 10 for more information 6/7 First Saturday Talk and Devotion at 11am • see Shrine Calendar for more information Bike Blessing Day • see flyer on page 12 for more information 6/8 Pentecost Sunday 6/12 Memorial of Bl. Anthony Leszczewicz and Bl. George Kaszyra, MIC—Marian Martyrs 6/14 Marian Teaching at 11am with Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC • Topic: TBD 6/15 Solemnity of The Most Holy Trinity 6/19-21 Forty Hours Devotion • see flyer on page 13 for more information 6/21 Filipino Day • see flyer on page 14 for more information Marian Teaching with Fr. Daniel Klimek • Topic: TBD
I offer a cordial greeting to the Cardinals present, and particularly to the Cardinal Vicar, the auxiliary bishops, all the bishops and the priests – parish priests, parochial vicars and all those who in in various ways cooperate in the pastoral care of our communities. My greeting also goes to the deacons, the men and women religious, the civil authorities and all of you, the dear lay faithful. The Church of Rome is heir to a great history, grounded in the witness of Peter, Paul and countless martyrs, and it has a unique mission, as we see from the inscription on the façade of this Cathedral: to be Mater omnium Ecclesiarum, Mother of all the Churches. Pope Francis frequently encouraged us to reflect on the maternal dimension of the Church (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 46-49,139-141; Catechesis, 13 January 2016) and her defining qualities of tenderness, self-sacrifice and the capacity to listen. Those qualities enable her not only to assist others but often to anticipate their needs and expectations before they are even expressed. We hope that those qualities will be increasingly present in the people of God everywhere, including here, in our great diocesan family: in the faithful, in pastors, and, first of all, in myself. The readings we have heard can help us to reflect on these qualities. The Acts of the Apostles (cf. 15:1-2, 22-29) in particular describe how the early Christian community faced the challenge of opening to the pagan world in its preaching of the Gospel. This was no easy matter; it called for much patience and mutual listening. This was the case in the community in Antioch, where the brethren, through dialogue – and even disagreements – resolved the question together. Paul and Barnabas then went up to Jerusalem. They did not settle the question on their own: they wanted to be in communion with the Mother Church and so they went there with humility. In Jerusalem, they found Peter and the Apostles, who were prepared to listen to them. This was the beginning of a dialogue that, in the end, led to the right decision. HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV IN THE CRYPT OF SAINT PETER’S BASILICA Vatican Grottoes May 25, 2025
Recognizing the difficulties of the new converts, they agreed not to impose excessive burdens on them, but rather to insist only on what was essential (cf. Acts 15:2829). In this way, what might have seemed a problem became for everyone an opportunity for reflection and growth. The biblical text, however, tells us something else, beyond the rich and interesting human dynamics of the event. We see this in the words used by the brethren in Jerusalem to communicate their decisions to those in Antioch. They wrote: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (cf. Acts 15:28). In other words, they emphasized that the most important part of the entire event was listening to God’s voice, which made everything else possible. In this way, they remind us that communion is built primarily “on our knees,” through prayer and constant commitment to conversion. For only in this way can each of us hear within the voice of the Spirit crying out: “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6) and then, as a result, listen to and understand others as our brothers and sisters. The Gospel reaffirms this point (cf. Jn 14:23-29). It assures us that we are not alone in making our decisions in life. The Spirit sustains us and shows us the way to follow, “teaching” us and “reminding” us of all that Jesus said to us (cf. Jn 14:26). First, the Spirit teaches us the Lord’s words by impressing them deep within us, written, as the biblical image would have it, no longer on tablets of stone but in our hearts (cf. Jer 31:33). This gift helps us grow and become “a letter of Christ” (cf. 2 Cor 3:3) for one another. Naturally, the more we let ourselves be convinced and transformed by the Gospel — allowing the power of the Spirit to purify our heart, to make our words straightforward, our desires honest and clear, and our actions generous — the more capable we are of proclaiming its message. Here, the other verb comes into play: we remember, that is, we reflect in our hearts upon what we have experienced and learned, in order to understand more fully its meaning and to savour its beauty. I think in this regard of the challenging process of listening that the Diocese of Rome has undertaken in these years, a process carried out at various levels: listening to the world around us to respond to its challenges, and listening within our communities to understand needs and to propose sage and prophetic initiatives of evangelization and charity. This has been a challenging, ongoing journey meant to embrace a very rich and complex reality. Yet it is worthy of the history of this local Church, which has shown, time and again, that it is able to “think big”, unafraid to embark on bold projects and to confront new and challenging scenarios. This is evident in the great efforts and many initiatives that the Diocese has made to welcome and provide for the needs of pilgrims during the present Jubilee.
Thank you! These have made the city of Rome appear to visitors, some of whom have travelled from far away, as a wide, open and welcoming home, and above all as a place of deep faith. For my part, I would like to express my firm desire to contribute to this great ongoing process by listening to everyone as much as possible, in order to learn, understand and decide things together, as Saint Augustine would say, “as a Christian with you and a Bishop for you” (cf. Serm. 340, 1). I would also ask you to support me in prayer and charity, mindful of the words of Saint Leo the Great: “All the good we do in the exercise of our ministry is the work of Christ and not our own, for we can do nothing without him. Yet we glory in him, from whom all the effectiveness of our work is derived” (Serm. 5, De Natali Ipsius, 4). Let me conclude by adding the words with which Blessed John Paul I, whose joyful and serene face had already earned him the nickname of “the smiling Pope,” greeted his new diocesan family on 23 September 1978. “Saint Pius X,” he said, “upon entering Venice as patriarch, exclaimed in Saint Mark’s: ‘What would become of me, dear Venetians, if I did not love you?’ I would say something similar to you Romans: I assure you that I love you, that I desire only to enter into your service and to place my own poor abilities, the little I have and am, at the service of all” (Homily for the Taking of Possession of the Chair of the Bishop of Rome). I too express my affection for you and my desire to share with you, on our journey together, our joys and sorrows, our struggles and hopes. I too offer you “the little I have and am,” entrusting it to the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul and of all those other brothers and sisters of ours whose holiness has illuminated the history of this Church and the streets of this city. May the Virgin Mary accompany us and intercede for us. Homily given by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV on May 25, 2025: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/homilies/2025/documents/20250525-possesso-cattedra-laterano.html Pope Leo XIV Portrait from Vatican Media: https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/it/special/habemus-papam/habemus- “I knew, more distinctly, than ever before, the Three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But their being, their equality, and their majesty are one.” St. Faustina Diary, 472 From Holy Trinity: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/holy-trinity
We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity. Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands. May the voices of the poor be heard throughout this time of preparation for the Jubilee, which is meant to restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone. As the Bible teaches, “The sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you; for your cattle also, and for the beasts that are in your land, all its yield shall be for food” (Lev 25:6-7). The spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, which calls for conversion, should also embrace these fundamental aspects of our life in society as part of a coherent whole. In the realization that all of us are pilgrims on this earth, which the Lord has charged us to till and keep (cf. Gen 2:15), may we never fail, in the course of our sojourn, to contemplate the beauty of creation and care for our common home. It is my hope that the coming Jubilee Year will be celebrated and experienced with this intention too. Growing numbers of men and women, including many young people and children, have come to realize that care for creation is an essential expression of our faith in God and our obedience to his will. From the Letter of THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO MSGR. RINO FISICHELLA, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION, FOR THE JUBILEE 2025 To learn more about the Jubilee Year of Hope, Please visit: WWW.IUBILAEUM2025.VA/EN.HTML Excerpt from His Holiness, Pope Francis Letter to the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, for the Jubilee 2025. To read in full please visit link below
Proper Attire Inside the Church “Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much. Woe to women lacking in modesty.” Our Lady of Fatima to Sr. Lucia Out of respect for Our Lord and to preserve others from any near occasions of sin, we ask that you dress in a spirit of modesty when entering the Church. Dress Code Guideline: For Women: No shorts, spandex, or skirts above the knees. No leggings or athletic wear. No low cut, backless or spaghetti strap dresses. All dresses should fall to knee length or below. No tank tops, bared midriffs or halter tops; no tight fitting, low cut or backless tops. For Men: No shorts No tank tops No baseball caps No flip flops If you should choose to wear a shoulder baring dress or top, please bring a covering for when you enter the Church. "Christian girls, think also of this: the more elegant you will be, and the more pleasing, if you dress with simplicity and discreet modesty." – The Forgotten Virtue: Modesty in Dress A good resource to learn more: The Forgotten Virtue: Modesty in Dress by Mgsr. Charles M. Mangan at https://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=647
Get to know the Diary of… God, You did not destroy man after his fall, but in Your mercy You forgave him, You forgave in a divine way; that is, not only have You absolved him from guilt, but You have bestowed upon him every grace. Mercy has moved You to deign to descend among us and lift us up from our misery. God will descend to earth; the Immortal Lord of lords will abase Himself. But where will You descend, Lord; will it be to the temple of Solomon? Or will You have a new tabernacle built for Yourself? Where do You intend to come down? O Lord, what kind of tabernacle shall we prepare for You, since the whole earth is Your footstool? You have indeed prepared a tabernacle for Yourself: the Blessed Virgin. Her Immaculate Womb is Your dwelling place, and the inconceivable miracle of Your mercy takes place, O Lord. The Word becomes flesh; God dwells among us, the Word of God, Mercy Incarnate. By Your descent, You have lifted us up to Your divinity. Such is the excess of Your love, the abyss of Your mercy. Heaven is amazed at the superabundance of Your love. No one fears to approach You now. You are the God of mercy. You have compassion on misery. You are our God, and we are Your people. You are our Father, and we are Your children by grace. Praise be to Your mercy, that You have deigned to descend among us. + Hail to You, Eternal Love, my Sweet Jesus, who have condescended to dwell in my heart! I salute You, O glorious Godhead who have deigned to stoop to me, and out of love for me have so emptied Yourself as to assume the insignificant form of bread. I salute You, Jesus, never-fading flower of humanity. You are all there is for my soul. Your love is purer than a lily, and Your presence is more pleasing to me than the fragrance of a hyacinth. Your friendship is more tender and subtle than the scent of a rose, and yet it is stronger than death. O Jesus, incomprehensible beauty, it is with pure souls that You communicate best, because they alone are capable of heroism and sacrifice. O sweet, rose-red blood of Jesus, ennoble my blood and change it into Your own blood, and let this be done to me according to Your good pleasure. Jesus in me makes up for all my deficiencies. His grace operates without ceasing. The Holy Trinity grants me Its life abundantly, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Three Divine Persons live in me. When God loves, He loves with all His Being, with all the power of His Being. If God has loved me in this way, how should I respond — I, His spouse? Saint Faustina “Consider the life of God found in the Church…”
When I had received Holy Communion, I had a deeper knowledge of the heavenly Father and of His Fatherhood in relation to souls. Today I live, glorifying the Holy Trinity. I thank God that He has deigned to adopt us as His children, through grace. Almost every feast of the Church gives me a deeper knowledge of God and a special grace. That is why I prepare myself for each feast and unite myself closely with the spirit of the Church. What a joy it is to be a faithful child of the Church! Oh, how much I love Holy Church and all those who live in it! I look upon them as living members of Christ, who is their Head. I burn with love with those who love; I suffer with those who suffer. I am consumed with sorrow at the sight of those who are cold and ungrateful; and I then try to have such a love for God that it will make amends for those who do not love Him, those who feed their Savior with ingratitude at its worst. My daughter, consider the life of God which is found in the Church for the salvation and the sanctification of your soul. Consider the use that you make of these treasures of grace, of these efforts of My love. I strive for the greatest perfection possible in order to be useful to the Church. Greater by far is my bond to the Church. The sanctity or the fall of each individual soul has an effect upon the whole Church. Observing myself and those who are close to me, I have come to understand how great an influence I have on other souls, not by any heroic deeds, as these are striking in themselves, but by small actions like a movement of the hand, a look, and many other things too numerous to mention, which have an effect on and reflect in the souls of others, as I myself have noticed . O God, how I desire that souls come to know You and to see that You have created them because of Your unfathomable love. O my Creator and Lord, I feel that I am going to remove the veil of heaven so that earth will not doubt Your goodness. O my God, I am conscious of my mission in the Holy Church. It is my constant endeavor to plead for mercy for the world. I unite myself closely with Jesus and stand before Him as an atoning sacrifice on behalf of the world. God will refuse me nothing when I entreat Him with the voice of His Son. My sacrifice is nothing in itself, but when I join it to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it becomes all_powerful and has the power to appease divine wrath. God loves us in His Son; the painful Passion of the Son of God constantly turns aside the wrath of God. + Today, I want to be transformed, whole and entire, into the love of Jesus and to offer myself, together with Him, to the Heavenly Father. During Holy Mass, I saw the Infant Jesus in the chalice, and He said to me, I am dwelling in your heart as you see Me in this chalice. O God, how I desire that souls come to know You and to see that You have created them because of Your unfathomable love. O my Creator and Lord, I feel that I am going to remove the veil of heaven so that earth will not doubt Your goodness. Make of me, Jesus, a pure and agreeable offering before the Face of Your Father. Jesus, transform me, miserable and sinful as I am, into Your own self (for You can do all things), and give me to Your Eternal Father. I want to become a sacrificial host before You, but an ordinary wafer to people. I want the fragrance of my sacrifice to be known to You alone. O Eternal God, an unquenchable fire of supplication for Your mercy burns within me. I know and understand that this is my task, here and in eternity. You yourself have told me to speak about this great mercy and about Your goodness. Diary excerpt 174; 1575; excerpt 392; 1819, 481, 1758, 1475, 483, 482, 1820, 483
The Gift Shop is open daily 9:30am – 4:30pm Find us at: divinemercy giftshop.org e Shrine Bulletin Board Oil blessed in honor of St. Faustina is available at the Shrine Reception desk. A suggested donation of $5.00 which would go to help support Shrine Ministries.
MARIANS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Yes, I want to Help! How to help Please visit www.marian.org/ukraine/ to make a donation for Ukraine relief. One-hundred percent of funds received are sent directly to Ukraine and used to purchase humanitarian aid and medical supplies. Please do not mail medical supplies to Ukraine! Instead, please contact the Eucharistic Apostles of The Divine Mercy: 1-877-380-0727 or e-mail [email protected] to answer any of your questions. Because shipping via container is more cost effective, we prefer whatever monetary donations you can give rather than you sending medical supplies. Please know that boxes previously sent to the Marians or the EADM office were sent to Project C.U.R.E. and will be on future containers. https://marian.org/articles/shining-merciful-light-ukraine
Diocese of Springfield ● Massachusetts ● Events
Embrace Life! Be A Hospice Volunteer. Do you have a talent to share? A contagious passion for just about anything? Would you like a appreciative audience? Want an easy way to make a big impact in someone’s life? Do you want to spend your precious free time making a difference in someone’s life? This is an opportunity for you. We are currently looking for HOPSICE VOLUNTEERS on a regular, periodic or as needed basis. You can play cards, read papers, or have a nice conversation with patients. We provide training. You must be at least 18 years old to apply. Please contact Lori Johnson, Volunteer Coordinator, at 413-443-2994 Or email: [email protected] Visit their website for more information: https://hcib.org/ Jesus said to St. Faustina: "... I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it" Diary of St. Faustina, 742 Excerpt from Comfort the Sick-Park of a Series on Corporal Deeds of Mercy. To read in full go to: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/comfort-sick
The Image of Divine Mercy I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as my own glory. (Diary 48) In 1931, our Lord appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw Jesus clothed in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing. His left hand was touching His garment in the area of the Heart, from where two large rays came forth, one red and the other pale. She gazed intently at the Lord in silence, her soul filled with awe, but also with great joy. Jesus said to her: Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (Diary, 47, 48). I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You (327). I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world (47). At the request of her spiritual director, St. Faustina asked the Lord about the meaning of the rays in the image. She heard these words in reply: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (299). By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works (742). These words indicate that the Image represents the graces of Divine Mercy poured out upon the world, especially through Baptism and the Eucharist. Many different versions of this image have been painted, but our Lord made it clear that the painting itself is not what is important. When St. Faustina first saw the original image that was being painted under her direction, she wept in disappointment and complained to Jesus: "Who will paint You as beautiful as You are?" (313). From The Image of The Divine Mercy www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/image
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