Pillars of Fire In My Soul

by the hundreds of thousands — is, indeed, continually spread- ing its salutary message wherever it goes. 13 The Feast of Mercy However, Our Savior wants to evoke this widespread and powerful turning-again to His Mercy not only from individual souls, or even families, but from humanity in general. That is why He offers another external means, which by its universal- ity, is to reach wide masses of people. To this end, through His confidante, He is demanding the establishment of a new feast: I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be cele- brated as the Feast of Mercy (Diary, 49, 299). The history of the Catholic Church demonstrates that there are a number of feasts towards the establishment of which pri- vate revelations were instrumental or helpful. Among these are: the Feast of The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), introduced as a result of the revelations received by Blessed Julianna of Cornillon; the Feast of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, influenced by the revelations given to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque; as well as the Feast of Christ the King. From among the feasts of Our Blessed Mother we mention the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, of Our Lady of Lourdes, and the Feast of The Immaculate Heart of Mary, which was promulgated throughout the Catholic World by Pope Pius XII as a result of the revelations of Our Blessed Mother in Fatima, Portugal. We see, therefore, that the influence of private revelations on the establishment of new feasts in the Catholic Church is not something altogether new. 14 It is to be understood, however, that, besides this, every feast must find its deep basis in Public Revelation [the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition]. Our Savior wants this feast to play a very important part in the context of the new form of devotion to The Divine Mercy. That is why He attaches great graces and privileges to this feast. Divine Mercy … We Trust in You! 45