DIVINE MERCY, AN INTEGRAL DIMENSION OF THE FAITH

VATICAN CITY, APR 23, 2006 (VIS) - Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, Benedict XVI prayed the Regina Coeli with more than 50,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. Before the Regina Coeli prayer, which substitutes the Angelus during the period of Easter, the Pope quoted the Gospel of John recounting Jesus' appearance to His disciples gathered in the Upper Room on the evening of the "first day of the week" and then again "eight days later."

  "From the very beginning, then, the Christian community began to live according to a weekly rhythm marked by the meeting with the Risen Lord," said the Pope, pointing out how this is also underlined by the Vatican Council II Constitution "Sacrosanctum Concilium": "By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ's resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery every eighth day; with good reason this, then, bears the name of the Lord's day or Sunday."

  The wounds Christ showed the apostles on both those occasions "are an inexhaustible fount of faith, hope and love from which everyone can draw, especially the souls that most thirst for divine mercy," said the Holy Father. He also recalled how John Paul II "wished the Sunday after Easter to be particularly dedicated to Divine Mercy; and Providence ordained that he himself should die on the eve of that day."

  Benedict XVI went on: "The mystery of God's merciful love lay at the center of the pontificate of my venerated predecessor. We particularly recall his 1980 Encyclical 'Dives in misericordia' and his dedication of the new Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakow, Poland in 2002. The words he pronounced on that occasion were like a summary of his entire Magisterium, highlighting how the cult of divine mercy is no secondary form of devotion, but an integral dimension of a Christian's faith and prayer."

  The Holy Father concluded by calling on "Most Holy Mary, Mother of the Church ... to enable all Christians fully to experience Sunday as 'the Easter of the week,' savoring the beauty of the encounter with the Risen Lord and drawing from the fount of His merciful love in order to be apostles of His peace."

  After praying the Regina Coeli, the Pope recalled that the Eastern Churches celebrate Easter today. "In the festive climate of this day," he said, "I cannot fail to recall that many of these people - in Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria - are suffering because of the flooding of recent days. I am close to them in prayer and have the heartfelt hope that, with a contribution from everyone, they may soon overcome these difficult moments."
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