Divine Mercy Sunday always falls on the first Sunday after Easter.  This year it also happens to be the day when two former Popes are canonized: John XXIII and John Paul II (which is, of course, completely fitting since it was John Paul II who established this feast).

The idea behind this celebration is that we cannot begin to imagine the depths of God’s mercy, but like a good father, He wants to help us understand.  To do this, He gave a series of messages to a Polish nun, Sr. Faustina Kowalska, and told her to write them down for everyone to study.

Think of this lesson as a super-condensed, beginner version of this message.J

There are two activities with this lesson, one very silly and memorable, the other very prayerful and also memorable.  For the silly one, look ahead in the lesson for details and be prepared to help your younger kids with cutting if that kind of thing tends to bog them down.  Oh, and you may want to consider serving hamburgers with all the fixings for dinner that day.  Really, it would be a great review and food is a fantastic motivator.

For the more prayerful activity, we’ve provided an audio for your family to pray along with.  The chaplet of Divine Mercy is similar in structure to the Rosary, but the prayers are shorter so it takes less time, overall.  An added benefit is that this month’s memory verse is one of the prayers from the Chaplet, so even if you pray along only once, you’ll hear that prayer several times and it will be easier to memorize.