1 • National Shrine of The Divine Mercy Dear Pilgrims, We welcome you to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. During this time of pandemic confessions, and Masses available (with limited capacity) are available. Please feel free to visit our Gift Shop and walk our beautiful grounds during your visit here. May God bless you. Sincerely in Jesus and Mary Immaculate, Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC Shrine Rector Livestream from the National Shrine (not available to the public at this time) Daily Devotions Daily Mass 9:00am Chaplet of Divine Mercy 3:00pm Rosary for Life 5:00pm Find us on: Divine Mercy (Official) Divine Mercy Videos posted on our Website daily: shrineofdivinemercy.org Daily Public Mass Schedule Weekend Masses and Devotions will be held at the Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine Saturday 2:00pm* Sunday 10:30am & 2:00pm *2pm Mass 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 * All candle shrines and outdoor Stations of The Cross are available to the public Please check our website for the most up-to-date information on our Monday-Friday Mass and Devotions schedule. May 8 – Fourth Sunday of Easter A Ministry of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary National Shrine of The Divine Mercy 2 Prospect Hill Road Stockbridge, MA 01262 (GPS: 2 Prospect Hill Rd, Stockbridge, MA) Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC: Rector Fr. Robert Vennetti, 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
Pope Francis said on Saturday that "we must ask for the grace to cry" with Our Lady for the lives destroyed by the Ukraine war and the other miseries of our time, like "the children discarded before they are even born.” Pope Francis underlined that the war is “destroying not only Ukraine,” but it is destroying “all the nations involved in the war.” “Because war not only destroys the people who are defeated, no, it also destroys the victor … War destroys everyone,” he said in Paul VI Hall. “We have entrusted our prayer to the Immaculate Heart, and we are certain that our Mother has accepted it and intercedes for peace because she is the Queen of Peace,” the pope added. Once, after an adoration for our country, a pain pierced my soul, and I began to pray in this way: “Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your Saints, and especially the intercession of Your dearest Mother who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I am asking of You for my country.” At that moment, I saw the Lord Jesus, His eyes filled with tears, and He said to me, You see, My daughter, what great compassion I have for them. Know that it is they who uphold the world. From the Diary of St. Faustina passage 286 peace Excerpt from: www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251046/pope-francis-god-is-weeping-for-the-victims-of-the-ukraine-war Picture from:www.marian.org In the Words of Pope Francis pray for
Lenten Regulations From the Diary of St. Faustina 028 in any of these things. The incessant call of grace caused me much anguish; I tried, however, to stifle it with amusements. Interiorly, I shunned God, turning with all my heart to creatures. However, God’s grace won out in my soul. Once I was at a dance [probably in Lodz] with one of my sisters. While everybody was having a good time, my soul was experiencing deep torments. As I began to dance, I suddenly saw Jesus at my side, Jesus racked with pain, stripped of His clothing, all covered with wounds, who spoke these words to me: How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off? At that moment the charming music stopped, [and] the company I was with vanished from my sight; there remained Jesus and I. I took a seat by my dear sister pretending to have a headache in order to cover up what took place in my soul. After a while I slipped out unnoticed, leaving my sister and all my companions behind and made my way to the Cathedral of Saint Stanislaus Kostka. It was already beginning to grow light; there were only a few people in the cathedral. Paying no attention to what was happening around me, I fell prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament and begged the Lord to be good enough to give me to understand what I should do next. Then I heard these words: Go at once to Warsaw; you will enter a convent there. I rose from prayer, came home, and took care of things that needed to be settle. As best I could, I confided to my sister what took place within my soul. I told her to say goodbye to our parents, and thus, in my one dress, with no other belongings, arrived at Warsaw. When I got off the train and saw that all were going their separate ways, I was overcome with fear. What am I to do? To whom should I turn, as I know no one? So I said to the Mother of God, “Mary, lead me, guide me.” Immediately I heard these words within me telling me to leave the town and to go to a certain nearby village where I would find a safe lodging for the night. I did so and found in fact that everything was just as the Mother of God told me. Very early the next day, I rode back into the city and entered the first church I saw [St. James Church at Grojecka Street in Ochota, a suburb of Warsaw]. There I began to pray to know further the will of God. Holy Masses were being celebrated one after another. During one of them I heard the words: Go to that priest [Father James Dabrowski, pastor of St. James’ Parish] and tell him everything; he will tell you what to do next. After the Mass I went to the sacristy. I told the priest all that had taken place in my soul, and I asked him to advise me where to take the veil, in which religious order. When you reflect upon what I tell you in the depths of your heart, you profit more than if you had read many books. Oh, if souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time. From the age of seven, I experienced the definite call of God, the grace of a vocation to the religious life. It was in the seventh year of my life that, for the first time, I heard God’s voice in my soul; that is, an invitation to a more perfect life. But I was not always obedient to the call of grace. I came across no one who would have explained these things to me. The eighteenth year of my life. An earnest appeal to my parents for permission to enter the convent. My parents’ flat refusal. After this refusal, I turned myself over to the vain things of life, paying no attention to the call of grace, although my soul found no satisfaction Diary 7-12, 584 Following His Voice
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Formorepro-liferesourcespleasevisit: www.respectlife.org How to Be Pro-Life "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."56 “...since 1973, more than 60 million unborn children have been aborted. Each year in this country, about 900,000 more are added to that list. Yet even if it [Roe v. Wade] were overturned, even if every state in the union ended up outlawing abortion for any reason at any time (which is doubtful), we know that abortion, somehow or another, would continue to exist in this fallen world. Though we can and should hope, pray, vote, and advocate for an end to legalized abortion, we must focus on what we can do here and now in our own communities. We need to double up our efforts on changing hearts and minds, one at a time, to understand the inherent dignity of unborn life.” excerpt from How to Be Pro-Life by Marc Massery. www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/how-be-pro-life The Marian Fathers invite the faithful to unite in prayer and continue to pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet for peace and end to war in Ukraine. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war. Yes, I want To Help! In the wake of the Russian invasion, your support will help our Marians in Ukraine as they struggle to survive and maintain their ministry, needed now more than ever. Donations for Ukraine: www.marian.org/ukraine/ or call 800-462-7426 How to be Pro-Life For more pro-life resources go to: www.respectlife.org
72 Events 40 Hours Devotion June 2nd-5th Our Lady of The Valley Parish Easthampton, MA Please visit the Diocese of Springfield’s website: www.yearoftheeucharist.net for more information In a recent study, it was found that only 30% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Jesus. We’re in crisis mode. They’re missing not just the reality of Jesus in their lives, but something transformative, powerful, and beautiful. This Year of the Eucharist is an opportunity for revival. Bishop William Byrne Bishop of The Diocese of Springfield, MA Year of The Eucharist Several times in her Diary, St. Faustina writes of seeing the red and pale rays coming, not from the Image, but from the Sacred Host; and once, as the priest exposed the Blessed Sacrament, she saw the rays from the Image pierce the Host and spread out from it all over the world (see 441). So too, with the eyes of faith, we should see in every Host the merciful Savior pouring Himself out as a fountain of mercy for us. This concept of the Eucharist as a fountain of grace and mercy is not only found in the Diary, but also in Church teaching. The Church clearly teaches that all the other sacraments are directed towards the Eucharist and draw their power from it. In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, for example, we read: "Especially from the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain." And, in a note in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, pastors are urged to "compare the Eucharist to a fountain and the other sacraments to rivulets. For the Holy Eucharist is truly and necessarily to be called the fountain of all graces, containing, as it does, after an admirable manner, the fountain itself of celestial gifts and graces, and the Author of all the Sacraments, Christ Our Lord, from whom, as from its source, is derived whatever of goodness and perfection the other sacraments possess" (10). No wonder, then, that St. Faustina was so devoted to the Eucharist and wrote so powerfully about it in her Diary: "Oh what awesome mysteries take place during Mass! ... One day we will know what God is doing for us in eachMass, and what sort of gift He is preparing in it for us. Only His divine love could permit that such a gift be provided for us ... this fountain of life gushing forth with such sweetness and power" (914). "All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion" (1392). "Herein lies the whole secret of my sanctity" (1489). "One thing alone sustains me and that is Holy Communion. From it I draw all my strength; in it is all my comfort. ... Jesus concealed in the Host is everything to me. ... I would not know how to give glory to God if I did not have the Eucharist in my heart" (1037). Excerpt from Eucharist: The Presence of Mercy: www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/eucharist-presence-mercy The Eucharist is central to devotion to The Divine Mercy, and many of the elements of the devotion are essentially Eucharistic - especially the Image, the Chaplet, and the Feast of Mercy. The Image, with its red and pale rays, represents the Eucharistic Lord Jesus, whose Heart has been pierced and now pours forth blood and water as a fountain of mercy for us. It is the Image of God's sacrificial gift of mercy made present in every Mass. In the Words of Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC
Shrine Bulletin Board Things to Note: Blessed Oil of St. Faustina 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. The Diary of St. Faustina Copies of the Diary are sold in our Gift Shop located next to the main parking lot, or online: The Gift Shop is open daily 10:00am – 4:00pm Livestream Series Saturdays at 11:00am with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC To watch please go to: www.thedivinemercy.org We are hiring! The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy is hiring for the following: Part-time Weekend Receptionist If you are interested, please call Human Resources at 413-298-3931 x140 Or send your resume to: [email protected] National Shrine of The Divine Mercy Human Resource Director PO Box 951 Stockbridge, MA 01262 Volunteers We are looking for volunteers to help us to make this special weekend available. If you are able to volunteer, please see our Volunteer Page or contact us for more information!
Servant of God Fr. Vladislovas (alias Vladas) Mažonas (1881-1945) : We encourage you to pray for graces through the intercession of the Servant of God Fabian and Companions – Martyrs. Please send information about healings or other graces received from God through the intercession of Archimandrite Fabian and Companions to: Fr. Vladislovas (also known as Vladas) Mažonas was born on June 24, 1881. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1906. He joined the Congregation of Marian Fathers on September 4, 1924, after which he also served in Mariampole as a youth educator and editor of the then-known Catholic periodical Šaltinis, where he wrote about the persecution of the Church in the Soviet Union. From 1932-1934 he conducted a pastoral ministry for the Lithuanians in London. In 1934, he was sent to Harbin in Manchuria to assist at the Russian Ordinariate of the ByzantineSlavic Rite run by the Congregation of Marian Fathers. Dedicated and creative in his service, he was also a deputy superior of the mission, educator and teacher of religion in all of the schools of the Ordinariate, the editor of the magazine Katolicheskiy Viestnik, the official journal of the Ordinariate. In 1938, he returned to Marijampole in Lithuania, where he again served as the editor of the magazine Šaltinis. After the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet army in 1940, NKVD arrested Fr. Vladas on June 14, 1941 and deported him to Kraslag, at the Rieshoty station, camp 7, in the vicinity of Lake Baikal, in Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia. He was subjected to very severe interrogations and torture there, which irreparably ruined his health. He was accused of being a rioter and an instigator of hostility against the Soviet Union, based on religious motives and his personal convictions. On April 21, 1942, he was sentenced to death. However, the sentence was not carried out; instead, it was decided to send him to Moscow for further interrogations. He arrived in Moscow only in February 1944 and was immediately hospitalized in the prison hospital of Butyrki, where he died in January 1945, ex aerumnis carceris, his faith unbroken until the end. By the letter of February 9, 2021, the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints opened the process of the Servant of God Fabian and four companions – one of whom is Fr. Vladislovas (Vladas) Mažonas, MIC. The official title of the process is: “Varsaviensis Beatificationis seu Declarationis Martyrii Servorum Dei Fabiani Abrantowicz et IV Sociorum, Sacerdotum Congregationis Clericorum Marianorum ab Immaculata Conceptione Beatæ Virginis Mariæ in odium Fidei, uti fertur, interfectorum.” Almighty and merciful God, You granted Your servant Fabian and four companions – Andrzej, Eugeniusz, Janis and Vladas – the grace of martyrdom and called them to be true witnesses of Your Son’s Passion and Resurrection. May they be raised to the glory of the altars, so that we, after their example and through their intercession, may faithfully fulfill God’s calling in our own life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Postulatore Generale dei Chierici Mariani Casa Generalizia Via Corsica, 1 00198 Roma, Italia Tel.: 011-39-06-853-703-1
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