Celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday with Pope Francis here 11 am Rome time (5 am EST)

The pope will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday at Rome's Church of the Holy Spirit, which is near the Vatican. Link included below.

This Sunday, April 19, Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the Feast of Divine Mercy at the Church of the Holy Spirit, a shrine in the city of Rome dedicated to this central mystery of Christianity.

If you missed the livestream, find the link

here

The Mass began at 11 am Rome time (5 am EDT) and was followed by the recitation of the Regina Caeli.

Because of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, the pope will have to celebrate the Mass in private, but you can follow the live-stream here. The link above will go live at the designated time.

Pope Francis’ visit to the church, which is very close to St. Peter’s Square, comes 20 years after the institution of the feast of Divine Mercy by John Paul II, on the occasion of the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) in the Jubilee Year of 2000.

The Polish Pontiff passed away on the vigil of the feast, 15 years ago this year.

St. Faustina wrote of a desire for such a feast in her testimonies, in which she recorded her mystical apparitions of Jesus.

In her diary, Faustina wrote these words of the Lord: “I wish the Feast of Mercy to be a refuge for all souls, especially those of poor sinners.”

“I will bring forth a whole sea of graces for the souls who come to the source of my Mercy,” wrote St. Faustina, as she documented the messages she received from Christ.

Pope Francis, who has made a proclamation of Mercy a central theme of his pontificate, will proclaim this message to millions of people who are suffering at this time because of the consequences of the new coronavirus