The Second Sunday in Easter goes by many different names, but ever since the Holy Year of 2000, Saint John Paul II decreed that this Sunday would be known as Divine Mercy Sunday. The devotion to Divine Mercy began in the 1930s, when Our Lord privately revealed to the Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska, the message concerning His Divine Mercy. She wrote these revelations in her diary. At the heart of these revelations was the decreasing sense of sin and the diminishing need many had for God. Saint John Paul II said “when those ideologies of evil, nazism and communism, were taking shape. Sister Faustina became the herald of the one message capable of off-setting the evil of those ideologies, that fact that God is mercy—the truth of the merciful Christ.”1
At the Cathedral we have always had a very strong devotion to the Sacred Heart. It follows then that we would also have a very strong devotion to Divine Mercy—especially during the Pontificate of Pope Francis, where God’s Mercy is centre stage. Because of this we decided to commission a new painting of the Divine Mercy. This painting will be stylistically similar to the antique painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe which hangs by the baptistery, but it will also be faithful to the image that is so beloved by all of us. Once it is finished it will replace the print that currently hangs by the confessionals. We are keeping the painting there because it is close to the place where we encounter God’s Mercy sacramentally.
For this project we found a partner in the other Cathedral in the Lower mainland, Holy Eucharist Cathedral, of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Community. Collaborating with Fr. Mykhailo Ozorovych, the Rector of the Cathedral, the talented artist Serhii Koloda has been tirelessly working to finish this painting in time for Divine Mercy Sunday. Serhii had a very successful art career in Ukraine, but ever since the Russian invasion of his country he has moved his family to the Lower Mainland and works here.
On Sunday April 7 after the 11 AM Mass His Grace the Archbishop blessed the new painting. This image is going to hang in the Cathedral also to remember the ministry of Archbishop Miller. His Coat of Arms was placed in the painting. It is a small way to show gratitude to the very fruitful ministry of Archbishop Miller.
The painting’s total cost is going to be around twenty-five thousand dollars. This cost also includes a custom frame being built in Ukraine to match the frame of Our Lady of Guadalupe. If you wish to donate towards this project please contact the Cathedral office. An income tax receipt is available for the full amount donated to this special project.
Saint Faustina, pray for us.
Notes:
1. Pope Saint John Paul II, Memory and Identity (2005)
