The power of pilgrimage: The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy
Share
Recently, I and some fellow parishioners participated in a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. After a powerful Cor meeting on the topic of Divine Mercy Sunday, we decided to make the trip to this sacred site. We shared this idea with our parish pastor and the pilgrimage was opened to all parishioners.
The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy was built as a votive offering to Jesus, the Divine Mercy, and honors Mary, the Immaculate Conception. It’s associated with St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, who received revelations about Divine Mercy from Jesus. The shrine – managed by the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception – is a place of spiritual pilgrimage and devotion. It sits on Eden Hill, a property of 375 acres that offers great natural beauty. The shrine is a designated Jubilee Year of Hope pilgrimage site, allowing visitors to receive plenary indulgences.
We arrived at the shrine around 10 a.m. The day began with a guided St. Faustina’s Way of the Cross (Stations of the Cross) prayer service. Pilgrims walked the well-maintained outdoor path winding through the oak and pine tree forest. The life-sized – and life-like – statues are awe-inspiring and provide a powerful spiritual experience. In the afternoon, we had access to confession, adoration, the Holy Rosary, Holy Mass, and a healing blessing with a relic of St. Faustina housed at the shrine. Also, pilgrims can explore a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes, the Shrine of the Holy Innocents, the Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine, the Holy Family Shrine, and an oratory chapel. There are many places to light candles, reflect, meditate and pray. The shrine celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday annually with a weekend of events including Masses, processions, and opportunities for prayer and reflection. The main event, the Divine Mercy Sunday Mass, is televised globally on EWTN and brings nearly 15,000 pilgrims into the small town of Stockbridge.
St. Faustina was born Helen Kowalska in a small village west of Lodz, Poland on Aug. 25, 1905, to a poor and religious family. She realized, at the age of 7, a calling for religious vocation. Her parents would not give her permission to enter the convent. Then, at the age of 19, she received a vision of Jesus stripped of his clothing and covered in wounds, asking her, “How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?” It was this vision that transformed her and, eventually, would have a profound impact on the world.
In July 1924, Helen applied at the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, in Warsaw, Poland. The superior assessed Helen as “no one special” and told her to find work to pay for the novice wardrobe. What had been a test by the congregation’s superior of Helen’s resolve ended on Aug. 1, 1925, when she was accepted to the convent. For the next 13 years, she worked as a cook, shop assistant in a baker’s shop, gardener and porter. She suffered from the debilitating effects of tuberculosis, but experienced many extraordinary graces including apparitions, ecstasies, the gift of bilocation, hidden stigmata, and reading human souls.
Jesus first appeared to St. Faustina on Feb. 2, 1931, in her convent cell in Plock, Poland. He asked her to paint – eventually completed by a professional artist – the image she witnessed in the vision. Today, we know this as the Divine Mercy image, with rays of red and pale light emanating from His heart, which is displayed in churches, homes, and religious institutions. St. Faustina’s visions of Jesus resulted in additional forms of worship including the Feast of Divine Mercy, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the Prayer in the Hour of His Death on the Cross (the Hour of Mercy). St. Faustina was reluctant in fulfilling certain requests of Jesus, primarily due to doubt, obedience to authority, and feelings of inadequacy. In time, she began to understand Jesus’ repeated message, “The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is – trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive.” In the end despite her doubts, St. Faustina persevered and Jesus’ Divine Mercy message began to spread world-wide.
In 2000, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, the secretary of Divine Mercy, was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday and the Feast of Divine Mercy officially proclaimed by Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s in Rome.
A pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy can be conducted individually or in a group, either by bus or self-transport, and can provide an opportunity to step away from daily routine, unite parishioners through prayer and reflection and, most importantly, help to encounter God in a personal and transformative way. No matter how a person decides to make the trip, it is well worth it.
Mike Langlois is the grand knight of St. Augustine Knights of Columbus Council 7273 in Peru, New York. He is also the Upstate Conference Coordinator for Evangelization and Faith Formation for the New York State Knights of Columbus, which encompasses the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Ogdensburg dioceses. He can be reached at mjlang67@gmail.com.
